Writer's Block

___ · 06-20-2011, 12:48 PM

Um. So I don't know which place is best suited for this topic so I figure it'll get moved if need be. So I'm on tumblr and this quote pops up:

Quote:

“I don’t believe in writer’s block. I think writer’s block is just a myth that was invented by people who either don’t want to work or people who aren’t ready to get an idea down on paper. So if I can’t write, if I’m stuck, it’s because I’m trying to figure something out. The other thing is my husband, who is a doctor, goes to work every single day, and he doesn’t get ‘doctor’s block’. He doesn’t just say, “I don’t have any idea what this patient has, and I’m just gonna go home and lie on the couch and stare at the ceiling and eat popcorn.” Which is what writers do. It’s like we have this built-in ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card going called Writer’s Block. But if you work, you just work, and sooner or later, you’ll get through it.”

-Ann Patchett

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Indifferent, I suppose. But I think that using a doctor as an example isn't that fair, I mean, when you're a doctor you're educated for specifically that career. Hmm, I don't know.

And...go...

ThePhanastasio · 06-20-2011, 12:56 PM

I'll have to agree with you that the doctor example was unfair. The doctor is trained to do something specifically, and they know the answers to given sets of symptoms depending on what sort of doctor they are. They're following a set of rules, and they're not really having to do as much individual expression as they are following these rules.

With that said, I'd imagine doctors do experience doctor's block. When they're faced with a variety of symptoms they're not familiar with which may be a new, as of yet undiscovered illness, I'd imagine that they're going to hit a lot of dead ends trying to figure out what's going on and how to fix it.

I mean, there are still no cures for the common cold, cancer, AIDS...and I'm sure that those people get "blocks".

I don't think that a creative block is really a get out of jail free card, as it were, but something that happens to anyone, regardless of career. When it's your personal output and thoughts, and there's no real set of parameters, you get blocked sometimes. Plain and simple.

I know that I get writer's block, and it's not that I can't write at all, but that I can't write what I want to write at that time. I could still feasibly write thoughts down on a piece of paper which would still be unique to me and all of that jive, but it wouldn't be what I wanted to write, and I'd have to do some thinking to work around the problem and commit the thoughts I want to commit to paper out there.

~~The Virgin~~ · 06-20-2011, 12:56 PM

nope, doctor's can't have writers block because their job is too important to call it a day.

Queen Boo · 06-20-2011, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Virgin

nope, doctor's can't have writers block because their job is too important to call it a day.

what the fuck I don't even

djchameleon · 06-20-2011, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ___

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Indifferent, I suppose. But I think that using a doctor as an example isn't that fair, I mean, when you're a doctor you're educated for specifically that career. Hmm, I don't know.

And...go...

Wow, that lady is an idiot that doesn't have a creative bone in her body.

She's never experienced what it's like to have any form of writer's block and what I mean by that is it's not only writers that experience it but I'm sure other artists do as well.

Being a doctor is more about using logic than it is using creativity.

Even if a doctor doesn't know what the condition is, he still has piles of case studies that he can research to come up with an answer as well as referring to other colleagues to help

06-20-2011, 12:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
ThePhanastasio Killed Laura Palmer Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Ashland, KY Posts: 1,679	I'll have to agree with you that the doctor example was unfair. The doctor is trained to do something specifically, and they know the answers to given sets of symptoms depending on what sort of doctor they are. They're following a set of rules, and they're not really having to do as much individual expression as they are following these rules. With that said, I'd imagine doctors do experience doctor's block. When they're faced with a variety of symptoms they're not familiar with which may be a new, as of yet undiscovered illness, I'd imagine that they're going to hit a lot of dead ends trying to figure out what's going on and how to fix it. I mean, there are still no cures for the common cold, cancer, AIDS...and I'm sure that those people get "blocks". I don't think that a creative block is really a get out of jail free card, as it were, but something that happens to anyone, regardless of career. When it's your personal output and thoughts, and there's no real set of parameters, you get blocked sometimes. Plain and simple. I know that I get writer's block, and it's not that I can't write at all, but that I can't write what I want to write at that time. I could still feasibly write thoughts down on a piece of paper which would still be unique to me and all of that jive, but it wouldn't be what I wanted to write, and I'd have to do some thinking to work around the problem and commit the thoughts I want to commit to paper out there. __________________ Phish: Studio Discography Reviewed 100 Albums I Heartily Recommend My last.fm It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken Perhaps they're better left unsung

06-20-2011, 12:56 PM	#3 (permalink)
~~The Virgin~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Cebu, Philippines Posts: 677	nope, doctor's can't have writers block because their job is too important to call it a day.