We don't believe that professional writers experience writer's block.

To us, writer's block is just as nonsensical as "quarterback's block" in a football game. If quarterbacks run a passing play and then don't throw the ball to their receivers, it's not because the quarterbacks have a psychological inhibition that stops them from throwing the football. The quarterbacks don't have any open receivers or they don't see a receiver who's open or they're running from a 300-pound defensive lineman. Quarterbacks can always throw the ball. They may throw it well or they may throw it poorly, but they can always throw it.

Likewise, writers may write well or they may write poorly, but they can always write. If writers have trouble writing, they don't have the information they need to write.

If you are experiencing writer's block, ask yourself whether what you are writing contributes to your goals and strategies with your audience. Go back and think through the way you organized the content based on your goals and strategies. Do you have ideas that don't belong together? Do you need to make some changes to the organization? Do you need to work on information in another section of your document so you can better understand what to put in the section that you're having trouble writing? As soon as you understand the source of your difficulty, you'll be able to write.

Return to Phase 6: Write.