Do you think writer's block actually exists?

Define writer's block. People debating it are often talking about different things.

In my experience, people claiming writer's block are worrying about stuff they shouldn't be, like writing the Great American Novel, or determining their style, or whether their chapters are too long or too short, instead of just telling a story. Basically self-induced via extraneous nonsense.

Note - I do differentiate between "writer's block" and a stumbling block. Stumbling blocks are part and parcel of writing, and typically just need time to be mulled over before stepping over them.

legendary bum said:

Some say writer's block just means you aren't telling the story you want to tell.

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I was taught early on that there's no such thing as writer's block, just a lazy writer.

And to this day, when I hit a block and eventually pull myself out I see that the problem that I faced could have been solved if I had just kept to the conventional wisdom passed down from other writers and plain old common sense. I was just too lazy to look for other angles of approach. Once I find an angle, I stampede off. It's that latency when I'm too bored/lazy/tired to just take a step to the side to view the problem at a different angle.

Why are some stories easier to write than others?

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I've never written a story that was easier than the last.

I just got through a bout with my laziness. I stopped writing because I was stuck in a certain situation where I wanted to establish one character's motivation (without mentioning their goals) through another character to other characters. And this was associated with a whole mess of problems, namely: Making the reader care about a character, when all the others have something better going for them. I worked out that what I was trying to do with my main character sucked, and once I cut them from the book entirely and assigned a different character the role, the entire story flowed so much better. It took me weeks to understand: I have problem. What do? Oh, remove thing that causes problem. All better now. I had fucking cancer! I was just too lazy to take the time to look at the problem correctly.

Writers block is born of fear. What the writer is afraid of doesn't matter, but every time I've been blocked it's because I'm afraid.

And the best cure is to keep writing, even if all you are doin is brainstorming the 'stuck' place for a few days.

WillSauger said:

I was taught early on that there's no such thing as writer's block, just a lazy writer.

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Or anxiety. Either way, it's best to just suck it up and get on with it.

IMO it's real. I had it one time and no matter what I did in an attempt to trick myself into writing, I just couldn't seem to get any words out. I was stressed and tired and it literally felt like a wall was in place. Time helped, as did reading a lot. The worst thing a person can do is condemn themselves, or give the block any power. You have to relax and have faith that you'll write again. If you wrote once, it will happen again.

Wilde_at_heart said:

Or anxiety.

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I'd say anxiety/fear/whatnot is just the trigger for the laziness.

It's like standing at the base of a mountain, wishing to hike to the summit. For whatever reason the hiker stops themselves and starts doing other things rather than challenging the job at hand. "Climb to the top? Ah... I'm hungry, let's have lunch." Completely turns away from what's at hand.

Like you said, best to get on with it. All you need is to survey that area and take that first step.

I don't think it's laziness. But then it depends on what you're talking about. There are different reasons people stop writing and different situations people call having writer's block. I do think there can be an actual block, though. It's like getting tongue tied and having your mind go blank when talking to someone. For that period in time you might be completely unable to say anything. I think a similar situation can happen in writing, and both are generally the result of severe anxieties and sometimes those anxieties need to be addressed rather than just barreled through.

There are some forms of writer's block I believe are real. When someone's very stressed, depressed, or physically ill, that can certainly create a block. Sort of like the 'spoons' metaphor in chronic illness, you have to have the physical and mental energy to write.

I also firmly believe it's possible to get 'blocked' or stuck on an individual project. When something didn't work the way you wanted or you just plain have no idea what will happen next, it can sometimes take time to solve the problem. Though, when I get stuck on something, I just go work on another project until a solution presents itself.

I certainly don't believe in the mystical 'the force muse is not with me' type of writer's block. If there's nothing physically or mentally wrong with you, then you *can* write, if you really want to.

It seems that whenever we discuss Writers' Block everyone uses it as an opportunity to subtly, and often not so subtly, break the "Respect Your Fellow Writers" rule.

"They're lazy."

Really? Feel like passing any other judgments? Maybe we're fat and ugly, too.

Writer's block.

It exists, it's real, it's out there, lurking in every bush, hiding behind every tree, and it'll stop you up faster than a one-kilo block of gorgonzola cheese on heavy Russian black bread with no water.

Constipation is far worse, by the way.

Okay, seriously, I'd agree with the poster who said that there were stumbling blocks. I've had many in my work, so I always go back to the beginning, read through the manuscript and find out why the character does what he or she does or why he or she feels that way about the situation or another person or something. After doing so, I can go to the bathroom again, metaphorically speaking.

(No, it doesn't mean I crap all over my keyboard. Major ick).

Now, there ARE times when I'm lazy as hell, but that's me and no one else. I would never presume to speak for another writer. Just for me, there are times when I just don't want to write and leave my manuscript for another day. However, once I get back to it--and if I'm really excited by the concept then I'll WANT to get back to it--the ideas come once again and it's off to the races.

Or the bathroom, whichever comes first.

Chasing the Horizon said:

There are some forms of writer's block I believe are real. When someone's very stressed, depressed, or physically ill, that can certainly create a block.

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I don't think you could call that writer's block though. During those periods there are a lot of things one can't do; writing is just one of them.

legendary bum said:

It doesn't appear to be very active.

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*smacks self on the wrist*

That shouldn't be funny. Stop laughing, Siana.

All joking aside, I'm going to present myself as an example of something that may or may not be writer's block. I don't know that I want to actually use the term on myself, since it's so often associated with laziness, but there doesn't seem to be an alternative.

Basically, what was happening was that I could start writing something new and have a fair idea of where it was going, but as soon as the writing itself headed in a direction that looked like it was going to produce emotional intensity, I might as well have run straight into a brick wall. I could go sideways a little way or step back and try a different angle of approach, but hitting the wall killed the story. There are at least five ideas I've attempted and killed in the last twelve months.

The thing is, it only looks like a pattern from a certain perspective. An incomplete picture - five unfinished first drafts and a complaint about hitting a mental brick wall - could just as easily be a picture of laziness, a problem with choosing ideas that have enough in them to be a whole novel or even just an inability to commit to one thing. Unless I spill all my deepest, darkest secrets and come up with a full explanation of what's happening in my life and how it's affecting my writing, a plea for help is likely to be misinterpreted as 'oh, she's just another lazy writer who can't finish stuff'.

I may delete all that.

So... yes to the question of whether writer's block is real. Sort of, anyway. I have no sympathy for people who get a tiny bit stuck on one scene and plaster "I have writer's block" all over the internet, but circumstance has forced me to believe that there's more than one kind of 'writer's block'.

Often when I've had "writer's block" it's really been fear. Either fear that I'm not good enough or the book's not good enough or even fear that what I'm writing is too painful for me or too much like something I or a friend has gone through.

But there have been times when I just didn't know what to do next. That is, I knew I had to get from A to B and couldn't think of how, or I knew I needed to fix this or that but I wasn't sure how to accomplish it. Those times, I usually need a break, either from that story or from writing altogether. Sometimes it's as easy as taking a shower or a walk. Sometimes I have to shelve a book and come back to it later. Most of the time I convince myself to just push through and fix on another draft if needed, but there has been an occasion or two where I just had to put something away.

I think writer's block is real. Once upon a time I didn't. I have experienced it twice, and while prompted by other life events/happenings, it felt like it's own entity? disorder?

Then there are stumbling blocks, also real. For me those are more clear cut--also more frequent.

It's a name it and claim it disease. If you truly believe it exists, it does exist. If you truly believe it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist.

The history of "writer's block" is well-documented, and reading it will open your eyes quickly.

I have such a long list of things I want to write about, I just skip one for awhile and move on to the next, often going through my list (about 20 pages long and growing) until I find a bulb going off in my head. It may be years before I get back to what it was I was stuck on. Then I have a new perspective.

amergina said:

The times when I have been "blocked" from writing were all times when I was one of the following (or a combo):

1) Physically exhausted
2) Depressed*
3) Extraordinarily anxious (about other things)

Beating myself up over not writing in those instances seemed counter-productive so I just didn't write and worked on changing the situations so I could write again.

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^^^This, in spades. My writing blocks usually come when I'm exhausted in real life or anxious/depressed about (pick one) work, money, family, health.

Sometimes I'll be stuck on a transition scene, which can FEEL like a block because it prevents me from moving forward, but that's just moving from one scene to the next, versus not being able to think at all.

Not being able to think, to process the concept of writing words or create plots or imagine characters? Oh, writer's block is very real. Trust me.

I don't buy it. In fact I wrote a blog post about it here:

http: //www.mjaustwick.com/index.php/writers-block/

The fact that you or anyone else doesn't buy it doesn't help those who claim to suffer from it and I hope you don't have any cause to change your mind in later years.

I don't really follow what it is or how it makes one feel because I don't think I suffer from it no matter how long the gaps between my writings, but there are folk who claim it does exist and is hard to overcome.

There is nothing to be gained by brushing it aside in the presence of those who suffer from it.

M J Austwick said:

I don't buy it. In fact I wrote a blog post about it here:

http://www.mjaustwick.com/index.php/writers-block/

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