“Screw you, writer’s block… how about I just write later when I don’t have it anymore? or better yet, how about not at all because I have this inevitable writer’s dilemma. Yep, right. I won’t.”
We set up writer’s block as if it’s an incurable disease, postpone our tasks and call it a day. It’s a familiar routine to a lot of amateur writers. Seriously. It’s not a life-or-death phenomenon because the antidote to it is just under your nose.
After I contemplated on the truth of that statement and actually posting an article on how to deal with writer’s block, I finally realized an important thing which made it necessary for me to write this post.
WRITER’S BLOCK PROBABLY DOESN’T EXIST, AND WHAT WRITERS NORMALLY MISTAKEN IT AS IS EITHER CREATIVITY DROUGHT, OR PLAINLY RESISTANCE.
I’ve already shared my insights on how to keep writing juices at bay and even reasons why just so I’d help at least one writer on being productive. But I think it’s just as fair to defend the other side.
I came across an excerpt from Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art:
“There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write… what keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.”
I hope Pressfield would forgive me for not buying his book, more so sharing one of his great proverbs from it. But just as where I got that quote, I find it entirely amusing how he was able to come up with the very word to represent this “writer’s block” mentality. And saying that his Resistance idea is worth this post is definitely an understatement.
Unknowingly, everyone of us enter that phase of Resistance. This is when we suddenly have a mental unending list of to-do’s till we end up leaving our desks doing all sorts of stuff that is clearly unrelated to writing. We resist the very reason why we need to.
Writer’s block is probably an invention of a lazy author from 500BC who couldn’t finish his manuscript up to his publisher’s deadline. Then, to excuse himself from not being able to give the long overdue work, he made up writer’s block.
It may be slightly.. just slightly, contradictory that I wrote about why procrastination is good. Yes, somehow, I’m still defending that it is, after all I wrote that. But point is, if you pay bills out of writing, you just can’t blame these so-called “writer enemies” for not being able to get food on the table for your 3-year old. That’s obviously BS.
Resistance is the very backbone of procrastionation. And while you’re doubting what I’m saying you’re just prolonging your ignorance and I’ll just virtually applaud you for being able to finish your deadlines without keeping awake for 2 straight days.
Resistance might be the foundation of being lazy, but the only problem lies on oneself as it will be there for as long as you allow it. It will continue to paralyze you from doing nobler acts like writing.
Now, if you think what I’m saying is nonsense, then by all means, click that X above and go back to watching Netflix because I might contaminate you with my productivity.
Life and Lemons 