Embracing "Writer's Block"?

Having to Write Something Vs Having Something to Write (Comedy Mindhacks #9)

Lately, I’ve been so inundated that I’ve not been able to sit and write. It has been frustrating to say the least. As a writer, I have to write; otherwise, I feel like I’ll implode or explode or both. So, today, despite already having a list of topics in queue to write about, when I got a few minutes to type, I couldn’t. And I started to get frustrated. While I tend to think “writer’s block” isn’t really a thing, that it doesn’t really exist, days like today make me second-guess that perspective.

And in pondering that, I also started to consider how novelists, poets, essayists, comedians, and writers of all sorts tend to think and speak about writer’s block. We tend to describe it like it’s life’s way of telling us we are failures. You can’t write! You can’t think of anything! You’re stuck! You’re a failure. BUT…what if writer’s block is a actually a creative ally?

For my daughter’s graduation recently, her class, the class of 2025, chose (quite curiously!) Natasha Bedingfield’s song “Unwritten,” which was written in 2004 (21 years prior!), as their class song. That song came out the year after I finished my undergrad degree! I didn’t know, however, until the commencement speaker this year mentioned it, that Bedingfield had the lyrics to the song written down and concealed for quite some time as a poem, which she was too afraid to show anyone for fear of ridicule. Remember the lyrics? Here are some of them, which sound very much like writer’s block at first, but then, through simple observation, the gradual overcoming of it, and eventually the sharing of the solution with everyone else.

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin

No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

What if the blank page before you isn’t a problem or a headache or an accusation, but an invitation? A chance to pause and reflect? Comedians know that forcing jokes often leads to flops, but you still have to write. And when you try but can’t, the silence is fine. Or, just saying anything at all is fine, too. Having your arms wide open to welcome either is the correct posture! So, in that sense, writer’s block really isn’t a foe. Here are a handful more reasons why.

1) Writer’s block gives your brain time to incubate ideas, time for ideas to marinate. When we feel stuck, maybe it’s really just our brains hard at work making connections, or trying to anyway, that we’re not immediately seeing. Sometimes we just have to slow down and, like the old miners, keep digging, keep sifting, and let the real gold surface. Take this post for instance. I didn’t know what to write today. I felt like I had writer’s block. After ruminating, I decided to write about that.

2) Could it be that writer’s block is our subconscious nudging us toward a new angle or perspective? Could it be warning us that what we’re about to write may not be the best direction to go? Could it be a sort of built-in honesty checker that stops us from repeating worn-out cliches and pushes us to find something fresh? I think so. And frankly, the number of times where I’ve embraced that hesitation and it has led to some unexpected insight or a great punchline is too numerous to count.

3) Writer’s block has a way of protecting the authenticity and quality of our work. How so? By preventing us from producing empty filler and fluff. Writer’s block is an invitation to listen, watch, observe, notice, and wait. I get that waiting is tough, especially in our culture. But sometimes the intentional waiting, not the idle, do-nothing waiting!, ensures that what finally makes it onto paper or notecard or stage is smothered in genuine conviction.

4) I don’t, in any way, speak for all writers or comedians. But I do think many of us have a deep, insatiable craving to write. It’s a fire in our bones. All the same, we long for completion. Finishing something makes the moment of breakthrough even more satisfying. Here’s a great analogy: pausing just before the punchline primes the audience to laugh and, in a similar way, our brains celebrate when, after a short wait (i.e. so-called “writer’s block”), a word or phrase or gesture finally clicks. And oh, when you realize that, it reminds you that creativity is a process, not some instant gratification app.

5) Finally, writer’s block is like a guardrail that conserves our mental energy and helps us prevent burnout. So, giving ourselves permission to step away means we can return refreshed and ready to craft something memorable instead of something forgettable.

So, if writer’s block really does exist, maybe we’d do well to view and treat it less like it’s our enemy, and more like a sign that we have something important brewing beneath the surface. It’s making the mental and audible shift from saying “I have to write something” to “I have something to write.” That happens when you learn to welcome the quiet moment. So yeah, the blank page isn’t a deadline, it’s an invitation to discover what only each of us can say. When we embrace the stillness and trust that inspiration will follow, our work becomes more honest, more engaging, and sometimes even more comedic.

So, if you’re feeling stuck staring at the blank page or screen, why not open up the dirty window, and let the sun in?! Maybe it’ll bring some illumination. Today is where your book or, perhaps your joke, begins.