Writing – What Happens When You Just Can’t Write?

I have had a number of emails from writers who get stuck and can’t write another word.

Bernadette said: “If I love writing so much, why do I get days when I can’t write a single word or days when I write and it’s such hard work that I hate it? I’m too embarrassed to admit it to other writers, in case they think it’s just me. It’s not writer's block, it’s writer's hell.”

Well put. I think we all have days when we feel like we’re wearing workman’s boots in ballet class or stilettos on a cross-country run – useless for the task ahead. Many of you said this feeling of utter dread and of not being able to write, worsened on deadline, one of you said that it happens the minute you get a commission, another as soon as they landed an agent and were asked for the first re-write. “I should have been ecstatic, I had an agent – it’s what I’d always wanted and yet I felt sick and couldn’t even look at my manuscript.”

Much has been written about writer's block, but why does it happen? And why just as you get the okay on the work, project or idea you’ve been pitching for weeks or months? One of you - and you are not alone - even said she regularly missed deadlines because of this ‘unbearable feeling’.

An editor once told me. “GOOD on time is better than PERFECT that never arrives.” I’ve often thought about this. Writers put so much pressure on themselves that sometimes nothing they write is good enough. Those days when you work a piece to death, to get it better, to get it perfect, when what an editor really wants is a good piece - on time.

It’s the pressure to perform, to meet and exceed expectations, but this isn’t the last chance saloon. I think these feelings crop up when we have work to do, because we feel like it’s our only chance to impress a new editor, agent or publisher.

All I can really suggest are things that have worked for me. Turning the tables is one of them. Imagine you’re the editor. Imagine how many pieces you have commissioned and the juggling involved to get them into print on time and then having to get on to the next day’s work. Having worked as staff writer on a newspaper, I can tell you, there is no time for perfection. Everyone would like an extra hour or two a day, but it’s not going to happen. Tomorrow’s paper or next month’s magazine has to come out whether you like it or not; whether you’re ready or not. When news, breaks, it has to be written there and then, maybe for a late edition when something else you’ve been working on has been pulled at the last minute.

So, think about it, what would you be concentrating on if you were that editor? Would you be reading Ms. A. Freelancer’s work and gasping at the perfect choice of words, making a mental note to call back and compliment the writer? Would you take a call and agree with the writer, who needs more time, because it’s important to get the right adjective and that the story can wait? Of course, you wouldn’t.

Editors will love you for a number of reasons, but one of them won’t be for being perfect. They give work to freelancers who can help them keep the wheels turning smoothly as they wrestle to get us into print. This isn’t to say that you can turn in, garbage, you’re already writing for a living, your writing will never be garbage, believe me.

If you have been given a commission, forget that you are the only byline in tomorrow’s paper, or next month’s magazine, you’re not. Distance yourself. You are one of many names that will appear on someone’s breakfast table tomorrow.

This brings me to another thing I do. If you really can’t write, forget about writing for the editor and write for the person who might be reading your article or book. They see an interesting headline and they simply want to know more. That’s all. I hate to disappoint you, but unless it’s a friend, most readers can’t remember who a piece is written by unless you cut the byline out and strap it to the hood of their car or insert through their door with a note. Readers won’t be writing to the editor because when they opened the magazine they were hoping your choice of words would be different. They want the story. Period. Take yourself out of the equation. Sometimes squeezing yourself out of the picture works by easing the pressure you put on yourself, the pressure that your thousand words, and yours alone, will make or break tomorrow’s edition - it won’t. It will be read and hopefully enjoyed, but that’s it. So, next time you feel so stressed that it’s difficult to punch out that first sentence, remember that even though many of us work home alone we are part of a much larger team and our successes largely depend on the work as part of a whole.

There are many books and sites that discuss writer's block and how to kick start your motivation, anything from taking a break, a walk, breathing exercises so I won’t even touch on that here, but I do think that simply putting that little bit of distance between yourself and your work at these stressful times can help. And just rest assured that you won’t always feel like that. Look forward to that morning when your writing starts to flow again, when everything feels good in your writing world again and you can’t even remember why you felt so bad before. Then you can pat yourself on the back and remember why you chose to be a writer. If you don’t believe me, take a quick look through some of your old articles, and congratulate yourself for getting through the tough times. I bet that half the time, the pieces you struggled with, will sound great when you re-read them later.

Thanks for the emails and do keep them coming.
Keep up the good work!

More on Writer's Block: The New Yorker: BLOCKED - Why do writers stop writing? by JOAN ACOCELLA

More on Writing: Writing a Book - in One Hit!