I recently read an interview in which several authors discussed whether or not they actually enjoyed writing for a living. It’s a pretty interesting question to ask because I think a lot of writers tend to romanticize writing and talk about it in terms of a “calling” or a “passion” that fulfills us. Not many of us are willing to admit that this “dream” profession sometimes feels like a nightmare.
The “Misery” of Writing
Which is why I was intrigued by some of the answers in the article. Scottish writer A L Kennedy said, “The joy of writing for a living is that you get to do it all the time. The misery is you have to, whether you’re in the mood or not.” Joyce Carol Oates is quoted as saying, “Given that the act of writing provokes such misery, why do you do it? – here is the writer’s perennial riddle.”
The dreaded Writer’s Block
I think one of the main causes of our writing misery is writer’s block and the inability to work through it. It causes us to fidget in our seat, our minds begin to wander, we check our Facebook page and decide we’d rather go watch TV than deal with the frustration of gridlocked writing. I think many writers, including myself, have bought into the mantra that we need to be inspired in order to produce. And if our creative muse happens to be AWOL, well, then, you’re simply out of luck for today.
Seems that only writers get blocked
Seth Godin’s short and to the point blog asks the question, “How come no one ever gets talker’s block? No one wakes up in the morning, discovers he has nothing to say and sits quietly, for days or weeks, until the muse hits, until the moment is right, until all the craziness in his life has died down. Why then, is writer’s block endemic?
What a brilliant question.
Another great piece written by Patti Digh for Fear.less states, “Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block. They get under the sink, clear things out and get the work done. We’ve exalted writing to a place that takes it out of the daily practice. It’s like yoga or meditation. You either practice it or you don’t.”
Digh’s piece is really worth a read. It gave me a few “Aha” moments and I have bookmarked it for those times when I start whining about being “blocked.”
The Bottom Line – Keep At It
Sometimes the best thing to do is to just keep writing. Write every day. Write when you think you don’t have anything to write. It’s a simple solution, but it can seem difficult, especially when your creative well feels empty. However, if we’re just willing to try, it really does work. I know, because before I made myself sit down to write this blog post I was whining that I had writer’s block.
Thanks for reading. Keep writing!
I never thought of that this way .. good writing.