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"Don’t get it right, just get it written." ~James Thurber, The New Yorker
Awhile back, a guest blogger proclaimed writer's block a lie. And many of you weighed in for or against this notion. I've been thinking about this a lot, and I have another theory: often what we think is writer's block is actually our brains over-thinking the project.
I don't always agree 100% with my guest posters, and in this case, I respect Daryl, but I disagree with his idea that you should love every single project you tackle and if you don't, that might be why you're feeling blocked.
Look: if you write for a living, you're probably going to have to do some projects that don't excite your inner muse. Unless you're independently wealthy (or incredibly lucky), there will be times you accept projects because you need the paycheck.
The fabulous Lori Widmer recently published a post about getting through projects she describes as spaghetti squash (they don't taste good, but you need to do them anyway). I suggested that you think about the paycheck as dessert and let that motivate you. And I'm going to give you the same advice you'll hear from some nutritionists: don't settle for crappy dessert. Go for the good stuff. If you're writing for the paycheck, then make sure it's really worth your while and you won't need to swallow so much spaghetti squash in the future because you'll have that heavenly dessert to sustain you.
But back to my original point: over-thinking. Many times we have ideas and phrases floating around our heads, but our inner editor dismisses them. (I observed this in a writer friend recently, and I'm certainly guilty of it myself sometimes.) We spend two hours laboring over the first three sentences, staring at an empty computer screen, because we think none of our ideas are good enough. This isn't writer's block at all! This is us obsessing about finding the absolute perfect word when it would come if we let it.
Don't over-think it. Let the words flow. Remember Anne Lamott's theory about shitty first drafts (all good writers have them, she says, and they are necessary for the writer to move forward). If you don't have a deadline looming and you need to step away from your keyboard and go outside or shift gears and work on another project, do it. If you're up against a deadline, then it's usually better to have a mediocre something than nothing at all. You can always polish, nip, and tuck later.
What do you think? Have you ever found yourself obsessing over a writing project? Or do you find that you're still plagued by writer's block?
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Comments
07.30.10
I think you are right. There is a difference between writer's block, and obsessing yourself into unproductive states.
I used to be guilty of obsessing far more often than I am now. As silly as it may sound to some, participating in NaNoWrimo (National Novel Writing Month) cured me of that. In Nanowrimo, you have to get 50,000 words down in 30 days. That is the challenge, and to accomplish it you simply can't think about perfect prose. Or even good prose. You need to have a single minded goal of producing the copy in the time allotted. Once it's over you can start the process of editing, but until then, you have to be pounding out the words.
That sentiment can apply to any writing. A first draft must exist in order to have anything to make better. If you don't have that first draft, no matter how shaky, you have nothing to polish later.
So far more often now when I am writing a piece of any length, I write a good portion of it in one or two sittings. Just getting the ideas down on the screen. Only later do I begin to tweak things.
I think writer's block CAN exist, but not as often as people think. (And when it does happen, people spend far too much time an energy saying they have it, which only makes it stronger.)
07.30.10
Sometimes inspiration just doesn't come. Other times you work yourself right into a lather about how inspired you should be, and how you just aren't.
Part of the time, I think you should just drop it for a while, and really it comes back to you when you're not so exhausted or busy or hungry or whatever. Other times you have to work through it, and keep on writing. I sometimes like to say that there's no doctor's block or engineer's block. If a writer is using block as a cop out, I don't buy it. Sometimes it's genuine and sometimes it's not.
I went through a period where I didn't blog for a whole month. Nothing I thought of spurred me on at all. So I just didn't. then I got back to it when I felt a bit better.
Lessons: don't pressure yourself into a state of block, don't drop the ball when you are inspired and keep on keeping on!
great post!
07.30.10
Thanks for weighing in!
@Ty: I agree that writer's block does happen sometimes, but like you said, you need to get a draft on paper before you can perfect it.
@Mehnaz: Amen! So many times I've gotten unstuck by talking a walk and coming back to it later.
07.30.10
I completely agree with this post! A lot of times I think my writer's block/creative block is a subconscious cop-out. I talk myself into a block because of my procrastination or the pressure I've put on myself. Sometimes you have to just start a sort of brain dump - get out all of the ideas, even the ones you think are bad. Weed through them later. Just get it all out!
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