If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word. ~ Margaret Atwood
I finished an assignment this morning. The writing went slowly, but at least, I knew what I was going to say. Earlier in my writing career, I used to get bad cases of writer’s block. Often, fear and anxiety fueled it. I learned that taking a walk, baking cookies, doing some mindless chore, reading a book chapter or embarking on some other activity relaxed me. With my mind distracted, brain cells would start firing and the words would begin to flow. (Now there’s a wine called Writer’s Block. More later.)
Sometimes, the writer’s block stemmed from taking on an assignment about something I had zero interest in. I’ve since learned never to accept such assignments. They ruin the reason I became a writer by turning writing into some soulless enterprise.
Hundreds of web pages are devoted to this bete noir of writers everywhere. I imagine new writers googling and googling in search of something to overcome it. But famous authors also have suffered from writer’s block–F. Scott Fitzgerald, Joseph Mitchell, Fran Lebowitz. And of course, numerous fictional characters have suffered from it. Below is the movie trailer for “Wonder Boys,” which is based on the book of the same title by Michael Chabon:
When I saw this bottle of wine, I recalled all those memorable funny scenes in “Wonder Boys.” Steele Wines, based outside of San Francisco, makes Writer’s Block. I tried the Syrah, a tasty full-bodied red. They also produce a Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Grenache and a few other whites and reds. Naturally, I wouldn’t recommend this wine as a cure for writer’s block, though I would bring it to a book party or other literary gathering. I’ve written about a few others suitable for book-ish types in an earlier post.
Vine Designs 