Defeating Writer's Block: Part 1

A question I'd probably be asked if I ever left my desk is, "How do you deal with writer's block?" That question is deceptively complex because people who don't practice writing as a discipline often have a different idea of the creative process than those who systematically make stuff up. I know because I labored under these misguided notions until quite recently.

In order to field this question we'll have to nail down the semantics. I've found that many laymen imagine the writing process to be the act of transcribing fully formed stories dictated by some mysterious idea vending machine. That's only partially true.

Creative people aren't Pythian mediums or hosts for the loa. Anyone with the capacity for language can tell stories. The fact is that of the 200 million aspiring novelists in this country, only a small minority realize that writing stories well is an acquired skill. Even fewer take the time to hone that skill.

So, what most people mean when they ask how to beat writer's block is, "How do you write when you're not inspired?" Or worse, "How do you make inspiration happen?" The answer to the first question is, "You write." The answer to the second question is, "You don't need to."

Writing isn't a mystical charism. It's a technical artistic discipline that takes thousands of hours to perfect. It makes no more sense to ask a writer how he can produce fiction while uninspired than it does to ask an IT technician how he can install a network while uninspired.

Many people mistake coming up with a great idea and executing it well for inspiration, which is actually quite rare. The reason that 60 percent of the population aspires to authorship is that everyone has lots of ideas all the time. They assume that coming up with a story premise is the hard part.

Ideas are cheap. Professional execution is a grueling ordeal. Writing isn't a shortcut to an easy living. It's a lifelong commitment to a craft.

That's my experience. What's yours?