Nearly every person I’ve spoken to on this subject believes that there is some force that overtakes writers at some point during their careers, suddenly transforming what was a veritable torrent of creativity and productiveness into an arid desert. Some people believe this to be true because they have experienced it for themselves. Indeed, one minute the ideas were literally pouring out of them onto the paper, and then next minute everything had dried up as if by a curse.

Not one to be dramatic, I do appreciate that this experience can be debilitating, demoralizing and even soul-destroying. And it can become a bit of a vicious circle. If someone believes that s/he cannot produce anything creative, the anxiety alone could impede the possibility of ever creating again. I have seen writers stop for months or years at a time, or even forever, because of a perceived ‘block’.

It is my belief that there is no such thing as writer’s block. Only a lack of planning and preparation. If someone is staring at a blank page or screen without any idea at all of what to write or where to go next, there are some unanswered questions. If the writer has not spent the time thinking about these questions before starting to write, chances are they will come up again. So, we are not talking about any kind of block at all really; it’s more of an opportunity to ask and answer some good questions.

Some of the best questions I have ever used are very open ones, such as “What do I want to say here?" It may seem overly simplistic, but that is, in fact, a brilliant question. For one thing, it stops the relentless drive onward in what could be the wrong direction. Secondly, it uses the magic word ‘want’. ‘Want’ implies free will which releases all sorts of anxieties and pressures of feeling trapped by one’s own writing task (amazing but true). Of course, another possible question, very similar to the first but with an important distinction, is “What do I need to say/explain here?" This subtle change moves the emphasis to the objective of the communication. What message is the writer expected to get across? What is required so that the reader achieves the desired outcome (knowledge, inspiration, action etc.) Too often, the objective of the communication has not even been considered before the author launched into the piece, fingers flying across the keyboard into the unknown.

I think I am going to get some blocks of wood made up, nice and hard, maybe even in the shape of a baseball bat. And the next time I hear someone moaning about having a perceived ‘block’, I will allow them to experience a real block which may just knock some sense into them. Nursing a lump on the head would be a fantastic time to regroup and ask some key questions to get the writing back on track. I just need to make sure I don’t actually knock them out…