Tackling Writer’s Block

Nov 18, 2004

Many think writer’s block is nothing but an excuse for a lazy writer not to write. To an extent yes, I do believe there is no thing like writer’s block — you can either writer, or you can’t write — it’s all a matter of perseverance. I used to get this so-called block whenever I had to write something meaningful. I couldn’t go beyond a paragraph. My interest would evaporate, I would feel hazy and lethargic, and I would feel like visiting a porn website.

Now that I write content for a living, I rarely encounter the block. I can’t afford it. I can’t, for that matter, even afford to have a bad mood because usually in the next two hours I have to mail a document to a client. Even when I’m not feeling like writing, I keep writing until I get into the groove and deliver a satisfying assignment. Sometimes mind goes here and there. Sometimes there are hundreds of tensions in the family (for instance the latest episodes with my parents!). Sometimes words just refuse to come into existence. The only thing I can do at that time is, keep writing, keep writing, keep writing, keep writing even if it reads like an incoherent gibberish. Gradually, a pattern seems to appear and there are a few phrases that tickle my fancy. I grab them, gradually stretch them, mould them, and soon I have a paragraph that I like. From that paragraph I squeeze out another sentence and from that sentence another paragraph and then before I realize, I have my 500 words satisfactorily written!