Seth Godin wrote a great entry about
writer's block. He argues that nobody gets talker's block. Then why do so many get writer's block?
Seth says:
The reason we don't get talker's block is that we're in the habit of talking without a lot of concern for whether or not our inane blather will come back to haunt us. Talk is cheap. Talk is ephemeral. Talk can be easily denied.
Writer's block is a common affliction, because you are putting something on paper, practically carving it in stone for the world to see and forever refer to. As a writer, you feel you MUST make sense. Unlike talk, you can't take anything back, you can't deny anything and what you put out there can be scrutinized by everyone on the planet.
But as a blogger, you are offered a way out. You can set up an anonymous blog, and post your thoughts unfiltered. Create a separate blog to help you learn how to write, how to formulate your thoughts, give you a tool to help you establish that daily writing habit. Your blog is your playground, where you write like you talk and never really get writer's block. And if you occasionally produce a gem, you can republish it anywhere you want...
Seth advises:
Writer's block isn't hard to cure.
Just write poorly. Continue to write poorly, in public, until you can write better.
I believe that everyone should write in public. Get a blog. Or use Squidoo or Tumblr or a microblogging site. Use an alias if you like. Turn off comments, certainly--you don't need more criticism, you need more writing.
Do it every day. Every single day. Not a diary, not fiction, but analysis. Clear, crisp, honest writing about what you see in the world. Or want to see. Or teach (in writing). Tell us how to do something.
If you know you have to write something every single day, even a paragraph, you will improve your writing.
