Faithful DPG readers, you may have noticed (or not) that it’s been a few weeks since my post “Vexing Vacations,” and still no promised feature on Maui has appeared. While stressing about the fact that I was dangerously pressing my deadline, a co-worker merely shrugged and said, “Writer’s Block.”

It’s a term that’s casually thrown about—especially on a college campus. We don’t procrastinate, we incubate, and we are perpetually plagued by said Block until our ideas have reached full form. (Say some).

Academic papers definitely fall under a different category of Block than creative writing, but the concept here is really the same: there is just some content that we don’t want to address, even if it’s exactly the sort of material we need.

So does Writer’s Block exist? Sure, there are times when we’re too busy, lack the motivation or the inspiration to write. Writer’s Block, then, in the former or the latter scenarios, would be a mental block, a self-construct and no better of an excuse for a late paper then say, lethargy for not going to class. (Here comes the self-loathing, actually pretty helpful as a catalyst for getting started).

The Internet offers a wide variety of solutions for those suffering from the Block; everything from tactics for recognizing true Writer’s Block (wouldn’t want to misdiagnose…) to “Advice from the Prolific” can be easily located on search engines.

What I take from experience, though, is that Writer’s Block isn’t the problem, it’s the solution. My best writing comes from a place of pressure; of being forced to examine events in an introspective way that usually makes me quite uncomfortable–solely because I have a due-date to adhere to. As such, I like to think of the Block in terms of its more positive, tertiary definition:

N. A child’s toy, permitting building activities

Don’t fight The Block, let it happen. Time to get back in touch with our inner toddlers.