One of the biggest myths in creativity is writer’s block. There, I said it. I have never believed in some mysterious external force preventing someone from creating art of any kind. I don’t believe in any mysterious external force, especially one that causes or stops actions.
But I do believe in the forces of nature. A river naturally flows downhill. Also by nature, human beings need to place their egos directly in the path of oncoming creativity. In other words, our brains get in the way.
Instead of accepting with gratitude the words that want to be written, we forcibly insert ourselves into the process. We can’t just write something, but we have to write something that’s witty or intellectual and will be the next story to “go viral.” Is it just me, or is being compared to a contagion not exactly flattering?
In any case, creatives tend to develop bizarre rituals around creative time. Instead of just sitting one’s ass in the chair and getting to work, we think that we can’t begin to create until we have had exactly 2.5 cups of coffee, have activated the desktop fountain, fed the cat (okay, this actually is important unless you want the cat to bug the shit out of you as you work – go ahead and ask me how I know), placed the lucky rabbit’s foot keychain in front of our keyboard, and oh, wait – I really need to go through the mail that arrived yesterday. Now I’ll take some ibuprofen for my headache, and I should really use the bathroom before I begin. I’ll just answer this one quick phone call. Now, my coffee is cold so I’ll just make some more and then I can get started…
By the time a writer is ready to write, the available time for writing is gone. Absolutely none of that preparation is necessary and even less of it is helpful. Creativity really just needs the bare minimum of tools. To write, you need a pen and paper. Or your computer and some kind of word processing software. That’s it.
Instead of allowing the natural flow of the river of words, the problem arises when we try to force the river uphill. That’s when a writer may begin to cry about being stricken with writer’s block.
Maybe the real problem is that the words are coming, but our ego says that these words aren’t any good. Maybe the piece you write isn’t useful. Well, write it anyway. Consider it exercise. Just like you wouldn’t head out to run a marathon without training, maybe you need to write some shit before you can produce something that you like and are proud of.
Writing shit is something I have done plenty of over the years and let me tell you, it sure beats lying prostrate and claiming to be at the mercy of some mysterious force!
The worst part of the phrase writer’s block is how solid it sounds. It sounds like something that needs to be beaten away with a chisel and hammer. That’s the mentality of many members of my former writer’s group. I’ll keep chipping away at this block and sooner or later it will disappear.
Why the hell would you put that much effort into it? Sticking with my water analogy – have you looked at the Grand Canyon? What do you think carved that out? It wasn’t some mysterious force, or some berserk writer with a chisel. It was water. The softest material there is made its way through all of that rock. Not by force. Just by going its own way.
I can see why people would accept the easy answer of writer’s block. It’s a lot easier than admitting that their own ego is fucking up their creative process. It’s easier and less painful to say “I’m blocked” than it is to admit to trying to shove the river backward.
It’s easier to just not write until the “block” clears than to write shit. It’s easier to not write than to examine exactly where you are stuffing your ego into your work. It’s a whole lot easier to not write than to simply accept the words that come.
As creative people, we mostly need less ritual and more simplicity. More working with the tools that we have and less believing that we can only create if we go out and buy (fill in the blank).
Creativity isn’t stopped by some external source but from an internal one. When you manage to step back and shut off the egotistical notion that you have to be in the mood to write or that you must write in your typical witty or sarcastic or intellectual manner and just accept the words that come to you, your own words will surprise you. Your productivity will surprise you.
How do I know? To put it simply, because that’s why this blog post was so long in coming. Because I had to keep cramming my ego into my work. Because I kept telling myself that I had to write on a certain topic, that it was the next logical thing I should blog about. Because I keep telling myself that everything I write has to be the best thing I have ever written.
Naturally, it’s all bullshit. But I’m pleased to admit that rather than succumbing to the temptation to cry writer’s block, I kicked myself in the ass, sat down, and wrote this post.
