Elizabeth Berg on writer's block

Saying you have “writer's block” is like saying, “Oh my God, I'm not hungry!”

—Elizabeth Berg, Escaping into the Open: The Art of Writing True (HarperCollins, 2000)

Re: Elizabeth Berg on writer's block

you know, Ruth, I've been pondering this one. When I first read it I thought, oh, yes, isn't that right!, and then, I thought, huh?! Perhaps I don't really understand what Elizabeth Berg means. For me my experience of writer's block is more like being really hungry but there's nothing to eat in the house, or I can't find the kitchen.

 Perhaps what she is encouraging us to do is to put a lighter, more positive slant on the experience we call writer's block, not judging it as a 'bad' thing. Hmm, yes, as I write this, it feels right, certainly a supportive way to be with any experience.

xo

Re: Elizabeth Berg on writer's block

Sandra: Perhaps what she is encouraging us to do is to put a lighter, more positive slant on the experience we call writer's block, not judging it as a 'bad' thing.

Yes. We never think “I'm not hungry now” means we'll never be hungry again, or we'll never eat again, or we're not eaters (whatever that might mean).

But when it comes to writing we over-dramatize our feelings around the seeming fickleness of the muse. Sitting in front of the blank page/screen with nothing coming, we have a tendency to panic: “Oh my God, I've lost it! What if I can never write another word?” Or, “Maybe I'm not a writer after all!”

S: For me my experience of writer's block is more like being really hungry but there's nothing to eat in the house, or I can't find the kitchen.

So, don't sit there, she says, do other things, try writing at the beach, in a coffee shop, whatever. Or just take a break from it.

In other words, get over it already. Or something. :)

She has a sense of humour and she loves food. In case that explains anything.