Blocking writer’s block

Does writer’s block exist?

“Yes!” you say, unequivocally.

Hold your horses.

Could it be that you’re only blocked from writing when you’re simply feeling uninspired? Could it be that writing is much more about bearing down than it is about awaiting a flutter of brilliance?

Randy Bohlender thinks so. 

“Most people think writing involves inspiration, and in truth, there is some of that,” Randy writes in a recent post.

“There are times the ideas fly from the brain to the fingers to the web and retain their brilliance through the whole trip.  Other times, the brilliance fades a bit and you have to go back and polish the final product.  Even that, however, is the exception, not the rule.”

You scour the crannies of your brain, looking for that buried gem. You write a dozen leads. You crumple and crumple and crumple. You take another break. And you never keep the pen on the paper. You never keep your fingers on the keyboard. 

Writing, Randy says, is a habit of writers. If you want to be found writing, you must first be a writer. And to be a writer, you must write. Good or bad, inspired or drowsy, write.

Writing, like all other work, is easier to aspire to than it is to do, which is why you must do it when you don’t want to in order to be able to do it when you do. My high school English teacher had a huge impact on me, but never more than when she told us “Writers write.  Writing when you don’t want to brings fluidity.”

Write on, Randy.