I\u2019m sure even non-writers are familiar with the phrase \u201cwriter\u2019s block\u201d and understand it to mean a point where a writer finds it absolutely impossible to finish writing whatever he or she is currently working on.<\/p>\n
I know that a lot of people, many writers included, would argue that writer\u2019s block is just a myth.<\/p>\n
Let me tell you, folks, that regardless of what my fellow Confabulators might say this week – all of their explaining away of the phrase \u2013 writer\u2019s block is, in fact, a real thing.<\/p>\n
I do need to qualify that statement, however. Some writers are lazy, or pretend to be too busy, or just can\u2019t be bothered with the actual act of writing. Even some serious writers (myself included) will use writer\u2019s block as an excuse to avoid working on a project that needs attention because we don\u2019t want to work.<\/p>\n
That is not writer\u2019s block. That\u2019s something else.<\/p>\n
Writer\u2019s Block is something deeper. Something more menacing. Something that is incredibly painful. To use a horribly disgusting metaphor, it\u2019s like constipation. Good Lord, it\u2019s not like you don\u2019t want to poop, but you really honestly can\u2019t.<\/p>\n
As a writer, I have to write or I start to lose my mind, so when I\u2019m not able to write, it can be as physically painful as being constipated.<\/p>\n
Writer\u2019s block isn\u2019t making excuses as to why you can\u2019t write. It\u2019s not giving up because the work is too hard. It\u2019s not waiting around hoping for a muse or inspiration.<\/p>\n
It is the chronic (I\u2019m talking weeks or months, not days) inability to write, even though you want to, need to, or try to.<\/p>\n
It is paralyzing self-doubt. It is fear of failure. Or even fear of success. It\u2019s working over forty hours a week at a job you hate and that sucks every last drop of creativity out of you. It that point after writing so much that you burn yourself out so you don\u2019t think you can ever write again. It is writing 100,000 words and realizing it\u2019s complete drivel, so you break up with writing forever (all the while wanting to get back together).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s opening up a Word document every day and watching the cursor flash but not being able to type more than a few words. It\u2019s opening up a novel you\u2019ve been trying to work on where you know exactly what to do to finish it, or fix it, but you melt down every time you try.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s wanting to throw your laptop across the room. It is sobbing in frustration because you can\u2019t make yourself do it. It is writing pages and pages about how much you hate yourself and how you aren\u2019t a writer instead of writing anything productive.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s watching everyone around you write, and edit, and celebrate the small successes while you curl in a ball in the dark and rock back and forth cursing yourself for being a writer who can\u2019t write.<\/p>\n
Call it what you will: self-doubt, self-pity, fear, depression, desperation, constipation. Those are good words for it, but it’s all just semantics. When those things keep me from being able to write, I call it Writer\u2019s Block.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m sure even non-writers are familiar with the phrase \u201cwriter\u2019s block\u201d and understand it to mean a point where a writer finds it absolutely impossible to finish writing whatever he or she is currently working on. I know that a lot of people, many writers included, would argue that writer\u2019s block is just a myth. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1272],"class_list":["post-3621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-writers-block"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3621\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}