It Might Not Be Writer’s Block…It Might Be Perfectionist’s Block

“It might not be writer’s block,” she said. “It might be perfectionist’s block” When she said this, I had to control every impulse not to stand up, slam my hand down on the table and yell out, “YES! That’s it! That’s what I’ve been trying to convey every time someone has asked me this question!”

I’ve tried to say this very thing in several not-so-eloquent ways, but Emily really nailed it right on the head. I truly believe that what we call “Writer’s Block” is most of the time just “Perfectionist’s Block.” It’s the fear of not being good enough. Not being perfect enough. When we sit down and face the daunting blank page, most of the time it’s not that we don’t know what to write, it’s that we worry that what we do write won’t be what we want. It won’t come out as perfect and beautiful as we envision it in our heads. Because we can all WRITE. That’s not the problem. We can all sit down and vomit out 10 or 100 or 1000 crappy horrible words that may not even make sense, right? Of course we can. But that’s not what we want to write. Because 1000 crappy, horrible words don’t fit the romanticized version of the writer’s life that we have in our heads. But sometimes 1000 crappy, horrible words are just the reality. Not every day of an author’s life is going to be unicorns and rainbows. Not every day are we going to sit down and spew out magic. Some days, we have to  bound and gag our inner perfectionist in the closet and just let ourselves be writers. And yes, we can always let that inner perfectionist out of the closet when we’re ready for them. (i.e when the book or project is done.) Until then, bring on the crap! Write that crap.Own that crap. And remember what I always say, “Don’t be afraid to write crap. Crap makes great fertilizer.