For My Writers: The Truth Hurts--Until It Heals

Scott Berkun toppled a much-abused lie that I have told myself more than once in my time, a lie that cripples the hopes of many would-be writers and scholars on this planet--writer's block. In case you've never read his blog, enjoy this quick blessing:

I promise you, the first draft of Strunk and White didn’t follow Strunk and White. The secret, if you can’t start, is to begin without constraints. Deliberately write badly, but write.

For this reason writer’s block is a sham. Anyone who wrote yesterday can write today, it’s just a question of if they can do it to their own satisfaction. It’s not the fear of writing that blocks people, it’s fear of not writing well; something quite different. Certainly every writer has moments of paralysis, but the way out is to properly frame what’s going on, and writer’s block, as commonly misunderstood, is a red herring.

Simple and razor-sharp, isn't it? Let every dreamer who feels fearful when the pen or pencil tip touches paper or when the cursor blinks longingly from the computer screen drop his or her fear in the nearest wastebasket--and WRITE.

Get to it! Time's a-wastin'!

**Image courtesy of JPG Photography