When Writing is Hard

In my post about my writing process, I said this:

“On days it's difficult, I'll write at least five hundred just to keep my momentum going. I don't wait for inspiration to hit, and there is no such thing as ‘writers block’ during this time.”

I just want to clarify. Although I don’t like to call it “writer’s block”—maybe because, as any magician knows, giving something a name gives it power—there are times when forcing myself to write does feel a lot like pulling out my own teeth with a pair of pliers. 

I also wrote a post about how for me, not writing was harder than writing. At the time, it was true, because while I was working on the rough draft of Four Weddings and an Asgardian Funeral, I’d gotten in the habit of writing as many as 3,000 words per day. When I tried to give myself a break afterwards, it was difficult to break the habit.

But if I get out of the habit, not writing is as easy as binge watching a TV show or spending all day doing a mindless, repetitive craft (I’m partial to diamond dot paintings and hook rugs) while binge listening podcasts. (Currently, I’m listening to Every Little Thing, a podcast which seeks to answer seemingly insignificant questions such as “who invented plastic chairs,” “how old is Winnie the Pooh,” and “is my cat a psychopath?” The answer to the last question is yes, but that’s why we love them.)

Last week, I claimed that I didn’t have time to write a blog post, but the truth was that I couldn’t think of anything to write about. Then I ran out of time. So sometimes, writing is hard. At those times, you just have to make yourself do it until it’s easy again.