Writer's Block Is Bunk | Lev Raphael, Huff Post Books

The problem with even using the term writer's block "is that it's a supremely unhelpful way of saying something very basic and ordinary: you're stuck."

Raphael quotes another writer with that statement. He goes on:

When you say you have writer's block, you turn a minor problem into something major like depression or even cancer. Suddenly you're beset by a grave affliction. When writers say they have writer's block, a normal, unremarkable part of the writing process becomes debilitating.

Later, Raphael gives advice similar to other articles I've read about how to deal with this difficulty for writers. But I like his attitude about it. He writes about "being stuck":

Stuck isn't a bad thing. It just means we haven't worked something out, we haven't answered some question in the book, or maybe we're headed in the wrong direction.

As Raphael says he advises his students, when he's stuck, "I leave the writing alone and don't obsess about it."

Good advice!


Still, if you'd like more advice, check out the Writer's Block section at Garbl's Writing Process Links.