When Writers Block Becomes Writers Talk

From Steve Laube's blog, used with permission:

I came across an old post by Seth Godin where he wrote: 

No one ever gets talker’s block. No one wakes up in the morning, discovers he has nothing to say and sits quietly, for days or weeks, until the muse hits, until the moment is right, until all the craziness in his life has died down.

What a liberating concept! It reminded me of a great book by Joel Saltzman If You Can Talk, You Can Write.

Of course there are times where it feels like the well is dry and that you have “nothing to say.” But that isn’t really true is it? You can sit down with your spouse, your best friend, or your writers group and talk about your lack of inspiration. It is in that expression where you can find the spark of creativity.

The key, of course, is to write something. Anything. Even if it is bad. Kevin J. Anderson suggests you should “dare to be bad and then fix it.”

Still don’t feel like you have anything to say? Just imagine a topic and think of what you would say if asked the question while sitting with a panel of experts. And then write your answer. [Today’s post came from imagining a panel discussion about “writer’s block.”]

I have one client who held himself accountable by pledging to pay two accountability partners $50 each, for every week he did not hit his pre-determined and promised word count. That is motivation! He only missed his deadline once. (I’m impressed that his friends took the money! A sign of a true accountability partner.)

It would be interesting to hear what you do to get past any sort of “blockage” in your writing life. Please post your thoughts below.