Forgive me if I can't find the original source--I've heard this could be from David Morrell or even Lee Child--but I heard someone ask a writer about how they deal with writer's block. The author said they just write. A truck driver never gets truck driving block--and a ditch digger never gets digger's block. Writers should just write.
But this is a myth.
And here's why.
Truck driving and ditch digging are not creative ventures. Writers create something out of nothing. The same goes with any artistic task. Painters, sculptors, and writers create something from nothing.
So the analogy of truck driving and writer's block is hogwash.
But is writer's block real? I'd say it is, but in a way it's more of an excuse not to do something. I do agree with David or Lee or whoever said it. You just need to write. There are days I'll sit for an hour and get a few hundred words down that I had to rip out of my soul. Then, there are days I'll sit for the same time frame and crank out close to two thousand.
On the hard days, I still write. Even when I'm editing, I still get blocked at times. This week--I think it was Wednesday--I spent both breaks and my lunch half-hour at work editing a single page of a chapter. And single freaking page! Something inside me urged to go on Facebook or Twitter or to check my Amazon ranking. But I plowed ahead.
I'm currently on chapter 23 of Shadowkill. A few chapters shy of the halfway mark. It's coming along nicely, but, as what I witnessed during this week's writers group, it still needs work.
What are your thoughts on writer's block? How do you deal with it? Or don't you? Please feel free to comment below.
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