Busting Writer’s Block’s Biggest Myth
For today's episode, our very first episode, I thought it'd be a good idea to talk about the biggest myth about writer's block. There are quite a few writer's block myths floating around out there, but this is like the big number one with an exclamation point on it. And that is the myth that writer's block does not exist. Let's examine the myth and talk about how it is neither true nor helpful to claim writer's block doesn't exist.
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Hey, friends. Happy 2024! I am so excited to be starting the new year with this podcast. I always really love when the start of a new month happens to fall on a Monday.
When the start of a whole year falls on a Monday, my little nerd heart sings with excitement about all the newness and freshness and potential for the year to come. The thing I am most excited about for 2024 is this Breaking Writer's Block podcast. It has been a super long time coming, and I am so, so excited to finally be sharing it with you all. I have a ton of really fun episodes planned, and I can't wait to be in your podcast app every morning bringing you my tips and advice and tools you can use to create the kind of peaceful, joyful, successful writing life that you deserve. One that's free of things like creative burnout and writer's block.
It is attainable, and it's my hope that this podcast will help you get there. So go ahead and subscribe so you can get all the new episodes and not miss out on any of the amazing things to come. For today's episode, our very, very first episode, I thought it'd be a good idea to talk about the biggest myth about writer's block. There are quite a few writer's block myths floating around out there, but this is the big number one with an exclamation point on it. And that is the myth that writer's block does not exist.
If you've spent any amount of time in the online writing world, I'm sure you've come across this one. Whether you were looking for advice or you just happened to see someone else's post, it goes something like this: A writer posts, “hey, I have writer's block. I am struggling to write. I can't make it work. I don't know what to do. I am stuck. Do you have any advice? How do I fix this?”
Inevitably, someone and most often many someones will comment, “Writer's block doesn't exist.”
Often, they will follow that up with an expanded comment. So it goes something like, “Writer's block doesn't exist. What really happened is you took a wrong turn somewhere in your manuscript so you need to go back and figure out where things went sideways so you can fix it and write forward.” Or, “Writer's block doesn't exist. What really happened is you weren't prepared to write this story yet. You need to go back to your outline and figure out your characters and your plot and try again.” Or, “Writer's block doesn't exist. What you're really experiencing is a fear of failure that's keeping you from putting words on the page.”
While any or all of those might be true (in fact, fear—and not just a fear of failure, but fear—is almost always at the core of a creative block), the fact that those things are true doesn't make writer's block any less real. It just means that these are contributing factors to the block.
The problem with saying writer's block isn't real, the problem with starting your advice that way, is that the writer who needs that advice isn't going to hear anything that'll actually help. It doesn't matter if what you say next is the most profound, helpful, amazing advice in the world. That writer isn't going to hear it. Because you started with “Writer's block doesn't exist,” so all they hear is, “What you're experiencing isn't real. What you are feeling isn't valid. It's all in your head. You're making it up. It's an excuse. There's something wrong with you.”
You didn't say any of those things, but that's what they're going to internalize and they will be unable to hear the rest of the advice.
Writer's block is real.
So why do we insist that it is not?
We do this because as a culture, writers have mythologized writer's block into this sort of boogeyman of the writer's world. No longer is it simply an experience someone goes through. We've created this all powerful, unseeable, unknowable, unstoppable creature, this beast that descends on writers with no warning and blocks them.
And once it's there, there's nothing you can do about it.
You can't control it. You can't overcome it. You just have to wait until the Boogeyman of Writer's Block has decided to bless you by leaving so you can write again. We've mythologized it into this idea...and that idea is not real. But writer's block, the phenomenon of being creatively blocked, of being unable to put words on the page, that's a real thing.
It's just not caused by some mythological creature or beast. It is not caused by something that you have no power or control over. Writer's block is something that most, if not all, writers experience at some point, whether or not they will acknowledge it by a name. It is something that can be both overcome and avoided in the future when we have the proper tools to address it, confront it, and move beyond it. And when we have the proper tools and ability to recognize the signs of its coming so we can avoid getting into the block to start with.
That's what this whole podcast is going to be about. We will talk about all kinds of industry and writing and some craft stuff, but primarily, we will talk about how to create a confident, successful, joyful writing life, one where you have the power and you have the ability to control your future.
You are able to avoid or overcome any blocks that come your way so you can find joy in your writing again. So follow along with me, my friends, because we have a lot of really, really great things coming up.
Until tomorrow, happy writing.