Do I Believe in Writer's Block?

A writer friend of mine (Neysa Jensen) posed the question on her blog of whether or not writer's block exists. The query is a valid one- there are plenty of people who claim they suffer from writer's block, and plenty of people who don't. I was about to chime in with my own opinions when I realized I wasn't sure what my opinion is.

When it comes to writing, I have a semi-emotional view of it. I write every day, whether it's a blog posting, or a few pages on my latest novel, or even a three-page short story. Writing is my favorite thing to do in my spare time because it's a kind of release. Now, I frequently display the emotional aptitude of a turnip, but when I'm writing, my thoughts are more articulate, and my feelings have a certain amount of clarity.

But do I believe in writer's block?

I suppose it depends what your definition of writer's block is. If it's a period when a person is unable to write anything, then no. I can write about anything. I can write absolute nonsense, if that's what I have to do. However, if your definition of writer's block is reaching an impasse on a particular story or essay, then yes, I believe in writer's block. There are times when I am working on something and I just cannot eke out any more words.

When I run into a problem like this, I take one of two approaches. Either the story wasn't meant to be in the first place, or there's something that needs to change earlier in the story.

If it's suffering from the former, then away the word document goes to a file aptly named "Writing Shit in Progress." It is, without a doubt, the purgatory of my hard drive. Every now and then, I go in there, find something that doesn't completely suck, and try to revive it. This was the case with my latest story (can I call in a novel? Is that too formal?). I started it, or at least a version with similar characters, several years ago. I got about forty pages into it and realized it wasn't going anywhere. So straight to "Writing Shit in Progress" it went. After I got twenty pages into the handwritten story about two months ago, I realized it was turning into that story I'd already started.

The latter is easier for me to fix. Recently, while working on The Monster (not its title, it has nothing to do with monsters), I came to a point where the progression of the plot had slowed and gotten awkward. At that point, I was about 170 pages into it, and I was not about to abandon it. I went back about thirty pages and found a place that could be altered to revive the plot as a whole. The story roared on, and now it's closing in on 300 pages.

So does writer's block exist? I guess my answer is "only if you let it exist." If you're emotionally invested enough in it to the point where you aren't willing to send it to virtual limbo, then there isn't a block. There's just something that needs to be changed.

And I guess the second part to asking whether writer's block exists or not is considering your writing style. I suppose it's impossible to assess whether or not writer's block exists simply because everyone has a different writing style. There's no "correct" writing process. I don't suffer from any writer's "block," per say, but that doesn't mean no one suffers from blockage.