The Horror of Any Writer

What do you think about when you see the word horror? Does it evoke a sense of dread? Or are you somebody who likes and prefers it as a genre? These are perhaps many questions to answer in one go. They may even force you to experience a writer’s worst nightmare: the writer’s block.

What is a writer’s block?

This is another question, and it is one that I could answer if my mind does not wander off in its pursuit. To uncover certain definitions, I tend to turn to the Oxford English Dictionary. The holy dictionary mentions that a writer’s block is ‘a (usually temporary) inability of a writer, especially a professional writer, to produce or continue working on a piece of writing’. Peculiarly, writer’s block gained its entry in the year 1948.

A writer’s block is one of those things that a writer wants to avoid like the plague. If a writer’s block could be ordained as a disease, writers would be glad to do so. Even more gruesome, like your typical flu, a writer’s block appears contagious. I remember a time when I was writing essays and theses at my university’s faculty. One may say that seeing other people work grants you the essential inspiration to have a cure against the horrible writer’s block.

In reality, this proves to be quite false. Of course, this experience is highly subjective and could vary between individuals. In my case, studying together at the university faculty merely brought me insecurity and more headache to be honest with you. I experienced that other students disturb by their general need for communication. What does this mean? Students, whom are familiar to you, tend to engage with you for small talk and distraction.

Naturally, this is something that one proves human. Having small talk means that you want to socialise and ground yourself with your fellow human beings. There is nothing weird or wrong about that. However, when you want to write, it may prove fatal for your workflow. Is this something bad? Should you avoid social talk when working? I met various people who tell a different opinion on me to this regard. Like I mentioned earlier, it is subjective.

But how could you fix a terrible case of writer’s block?

Morris Holland once discovered that a writer’s block originates from an author’s anxiety.¹ He figured that students who come across a writer’s block shall have severe consequences later on in their career. To be more concise, they are less successful in later jobs that require memory and the written account. Does this then mean that once you get infected by the writer’s block that you are doomed? Holland’s account concludes that this is possible to a high extent. Is there a cure?

What if there was a cure against writer’s block? Could we cure ourselves against any potential future infections? The famous Penguin Random House (yes, the publisher) provides the struggling author with ten tips, which I shall gladly share with you:

1. Take a hike!
2. Write yourself out of it.
3. Write anything!
4. Get a little help from a friend!
5. Deny, deny, deny!
6. You should sleep on it.
7. Find your touch.
8. Let your subconscious do the work!
9. Stay put!
10. Show me the money![^ https://authornews.penguinrandomhouse.com/10-ways-to-beat-writers-block/][^ https://authornews.penguinrandomhouse.com/10-ways-to-beat-writers-block/]

Like Holland, the author of this particular article demonstrated that a writer’s block is personal. Even to such an extent, they framed as if it all is to blame on the writer! But is this fair to say? At least, many of the proposed cures do not appear resolves at all and are contrasting one another. I shall demonstrate why in the following section.

Why is it bad advice?

When you struggle with a bad case of writer’s block, there is not much that you could do about it. It may sound as awful advice, but I shall now provide the dear reader with reasons why the author of Penguin Random House was wrong.

1. Take a Hike!
   Okay, this sounds like a great piece of advice. I could honestly say that my daily stroll brings many of my ideas about.

2. Write yourself out of it!

What do they even mean by this? They mean to say that, whenever you struggle with a form of writer’s block, that you should turn your focus on to something else. For example, I write novels, website blogs, academic papers and much more. The advice, thus, insists that you should fixate your gaze towards any other, when you get stuck with one. When you genuinely suffer from a writer’s block, the act of writing tends to be blocked. I find myself too caught up when beginning an entire new project: forgetting the other project in its pursuit. While effective for a brief time, the cycle of the writer’s block continues.

3. Write anything!

That is what is going wrong! How could you write anything, when it is blocked?

4. Get a little help from a friend!

Although this reminds me instantly of a Beatles’ song, and Joe Cocker at that, this advice tends to be insufficient. How could you reach a friend? If you require immediate inspiration or when you write on the clock, how could you expect that your friends are always standing ready for you at the go? You could not expect that this is the case 24/7.

5. Deny, deny, deny!

This advice stands close to the author’s second advice: turn your gaze onto something else! But how could you deny a writer’s block? Do you simply yell ‘no’ to yourself? The words shall not appear on your page because of this.

6. You should sleep on it!

This may sound like another great piece of advice. Yet, when you sleep on your writer’s block, it tends to eat you in the morning for breakfast.

7. Find your touch.

I first deeply contemplated what the author actually meant by this. They suggest that you should find inspiration in other sources. This could be a solid piece of advice, but, once again, if you race against the clock, there shall be no time for this.

8. Let your subconscious do the work!

Firstly, what is Freud’s subconscious doing here? Secondly, if my subconscious could talk, and I would know about this, it would not be the subconscious now would it? Thirdly, how can you force your subconscious to work for you?

9. Stay put!

What did they say as their first advice? I shall not elaborate further on this!

10. Show me the money!

I am not about to rob a bloody bank. I just want to overcome my writer’s block!

One could see that these ten pieces of advice demonstrate falsehoods. How does one then cure a writer’s block? I shall take another close look at this during the next article.