(Edited Reprint) Writer's Block: Is It As Big a Deal As Media Makes It Out to Be?

Working through a copywriting course and it suggested I edit one of my old blog posts in an effort to make it better quality copy. So I ran it through a couple of internet things, specifically Hemingway and a headline analyzer, and this is the result.

Saw a discussion about writer's block on a page and someone made an interesting point. They said things like: "there's no such thing as writer's block; you're expecting what you write to be perfect". And I started thinking. 

 First off, I don't agree that writer's block isn't a thing, or is an excuse to not write. Well, for some it can be an excuse to not write, but I digress. I had a case of writer’s block for about 20 years, from roughly 1991/92 til 2012. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to write; believe me, I wanted to.

It was because I didn’t have anything to write about. Hell, in ’91, I was six. What the hell does a six year old have to write about? So yeah, I dealt with a block until twenty years of reading and life experience coalesced into a story. Then another. And another, ad nauseum.

Wow, I told that story and got no closer to my point. Writer’s block can take the form of worry; worrying that you’re not a good enough writer to get through that book or story. Or that you shouldn’t put anything more complicated on paper than “Milk, eggs, bread, pick up dry cleaning”. Every writer has these thoughts; any one of my friends can attest to the fact that I’ve had them.

But here’s the thing: you have to let go of these worries and get the words on the page. It’s ok to write complete garbage. Editing can fix problems with garbage writing, and sometimes, it sells as is. There’s no accounting for taste, after all.

The real question is this: Why do writers seem to think that we have to write perfect right off the bat? No practitioner of any other art form thinks this way. No painter thinks he’ll be able to replicate Rembrandt the first time he picks up a brush. No musician thinks that he’ll be a virtuoso as soon as he picks up the instrument. Why are writers so dead set on perfection the first time out of the gate?

It’s because writing is such an important part of our society, of how it functions, that it should be easy. We learn how to write at an early age: first the shapes of letters, then of words, marching ever onward to literacy. Because we learn so early, it's natural to think “hey, writing’s not that hard. I could write a book without much trouble.” And we’re wrong. It’s a difficult thing, telling stories and putting them on paper.

Don’t get me wrong, there are people for whom these things are easy. But for most of us, it is difficult, especially if you want to make money from your writing. So give yourself permission to write shitty scenes, wooden dialogue, asinine plots. Some things editing can fix, some it can’t. Think of that garbage as practice. And remember what your first grade teacher said: Practice makes perfect.

For those who want to compare this and the original, it was posted on June 22, 2016.