Daily Does It

Aside from being a prolific and successful writer (Return to the Scene of the Crime, To Serve and Collect, Shattered Innocence, to name a few), Richard Lindberg is also a good friend of mine. However, that friendship was (sort of) tested one day when I read a column about writer’s block that he posted on his website.

Like many writers who make a living from their craft, I had ‘dry spells’, which is a muted term for those hellish hours spent staring at a blank page or computer screen. Nothing comes as fluidly as it should, and in the worst case scenario, nothing comes at all. Rich, more than anyone, should have been sensitive to this creative bugbear, yet what did he have to say on the subject?

“I don’t believe in writer’s block. Never have. Only lazy writers.”

It never occurred to me that he might be right: I was too busy wallowing in righteous indignation and wondering whether Richard would ever undergo a creative lobotomy of his own. These days, I wholeheartedly agree with him... and suspect that other writers will read these words and curse my future progress like I did his.

I blame writer’s block on one thing: over-reliance on the concept of ‘inspiration’. The popular perception of creativity is that it should take you by storm, sweep you away in a flood of genius, and leave you with brilliant content marking your page or word processing program. Don’t get me wrong- I’ve experienced that and it is exhilarating. But it’s not the norm, and when some writers don’t ‘feel inspired’, they don’t write. That’s deadly when you’re serious about a writing career.

Inspiration can be absent for a variety of reasons: fatigue, anxiety, outside distractions, etc. But a dedicated writer has to be able to rise above all that and just DO IT. No making excuses. If you don’t like what you’ve come up with, you can always change it later. The important thing is to just write something, and edit it afterward if you feel you must. I’ve written two books in just as many years, and although there were wildly creative sessions, most of the work was done when I wanted to be anywhere but at my desk. Friends and family were nagging for more time with me, my second draft read like a cookbook recipe, and the workplace was sending me home with a Vesuvius-sized headache, but I popped some Advil and wrote. I did have to revise a lot, but a surprising percentage of my first drafts went straight into the final manuscripts with little or no correcting by the editor.

I know it sounds overly simplistic, but when you rise above mental obstacles and just write, a type of divine assistance does kick in. Julia Cameron, author of the best-selling Artist’s Way, noted in The Right to Write, “The truth is, when you want a writing career and are willing to do the work to get it, the odds work with you, not against you. This is simple metaphysical law.” Goethe wrote, “Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it- for action has magic grace and power in it.”

Perhaps you don’t share my belief in metaphysics and magic grace, but there’s no disputing that if you just write no matter what your mood, you’re several words closer to your dream of being a published writer than you would be if you got up from your desk and watched TV or read the fruits of someone else’s labors. Which reminds me- don’t make the mistake of reading a book or article and comparing the clarity of that writing to what you come up with during uninspired moments. Here’s a little inside secret: chances are that what the writer submitted is not identical to what you’re now seeing on the page. A good author-editor relationship can work wonders, but that’s another topic.

I’m concluding this article now, so there’s one less reason to sit there with someone else’s writing in your hands. Time to go to your typewriter or keyboard, even if only to send Richard or I a letter telling us that we don’t know what we’re talking about. At least you’ll be writing!!

-Rose Keefe