Writer's Block: A Definition by Example

Writer's Block is¹

Note
¹ The author acknowledges his inability to complete this paper due to

• a "dearth of ideas, a state of self-dissatisfaction, and an inability to organize" (Polking 434);
• he "knows something is wrong, but can't identify it" because he has reached a "technical impasse" (Banks) and is experiencing "a time when the words just won't come together" (Vialle);
• he once received "thoughtless" and "insensitive" criticism and is unable to maintain the fragile balance between "motivation and enthusiasm in the face of continued self-doubt and self-criticism" (Ballon);
• is self-conscious about the writing situation because he has failed to do any "preliminary work such as brainstorming or outlining" (Purdue University);
• feels "pressure to be brilliant in the first try" (Wiesner) and "fear of failure, self doubt, and depression [have] become heavy loads" (Rosenbaum 142);
• has no established schedule for writing and "writes only when the muse strikes" (Reid), yet has only this one project to work on and can think of nothing else (Banks);
• has conflicted feelings, wanting "the writing to be perfect" and wanting "the damned thing done as soon as possible" (University of Illinois), yet fears deadlines and plans to postpone working on this paper until the last possible moment;
• fears that he lacks original ideas but can't stand to "write down an idea until it is perfectly worded" (Purdue University) and this stifles his creativity;
• has no imagination, has not been inspired and, because he believes everything he writes is drivel, he worries heavily "about what [his] instructor or other reader[s] will think of [his] paper" (Purdue University);
• fears that to be "original, insightful, profound, [and] funny … requires some mental digging" that he finds "uncomfortable" and because he knows that "writing something down [is] exposing a part of [himself] in an exceptionally public way," fears that what he writes is "unprofound, unfunny, uninsightful, and uninteresting and that putting [his] name to it is signing a confession to [his] un-ness" (Pelt);
• is having difficulty with the assignment because it is "restrictive" (Bly);
• has become "stuck" (Vialle) and can't think of anything to write and the more he worries about writer's block, the more "he fear[s] its sudden onset" (Rosenbaum 144) and so always stops to look up words, spending endless time thumbing through dictionaries and thesauruses seeking the perfect word instead of actually writing (Guilford College);
• is upset by "something [that] happened earlier in the day" (Guilford College) and is so preoccupied by that event that he has "thinker's cramp" (Poynter 176) and is unable to recognize the multitude of "excuses" (Schell 304) he has for not writing;
• and, because he has "psychological problems" (Guilford) "entirely unrelated to writing" (Polking 434) and is "lazy" (Belkom), he has decided that "it's more fun to rest on the laurel" of having published once than to back up his claim of being a writer by creating new work (Belkom).

Even so, the author believes that writer's block "never happens" (Perret 84) to professional writers and is a "cop-out" which professional writers never use because "You write, you eat. You don't write, you find another job" (Belkom).

Works Cited

• Banks, Michael A. "Two Ways to Block Writer's Block." n. pag. Online. Internet. 13 Feb. 2000.
• Belkom, Edo van. E-mail to the author. 17 Feb. 2000.
• Pelt, James Van. E-mail to the author. 17 Feb. 2000.
• Perret, Gene. "Shift Your Writing Career Into High Gear." Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 1993.
• Polking, Kirk, Joan Bloss, and Colleen Cannon, eds. "Writer's Encyclopedia." Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 1983.
• Poynter, Dan, and Mindy Bingham. "Is There A Book Inside You?" Santa Barbara: Para Publishing, 1985.
• Reid, Joanne. "Coping With Writer's Block." n. pag. Online. Internet. 15 Feb. 2000.
• Rosenbaum, Jean, and Veryl Rosenbaum. "The Writer's Survival Guide" Cincinnati: Writer's Digest Books, 1982.
• Schell, John, and John Stratton. "Writing on the Job: A Handbook for Business & Government." New York: Plume, 1984.
• Vialle, Vicki. "Overcoming Writer's Block." n. pag. Online. Internet. 13 Feb. 2000.
• Wiesner, Karen. "Angel vs. Devil: How to Vanquish Writer's Block." n. pag. Online. Internet. 13 Feb. 2000. { No longer available }