 What's shaking? My name's Cam. Welcome back to another video. I'm Damn it. It looks like I'm at that stage in November where my moustache is officially at its most CD. That's a bummer, but it is what it is. If you want to help me fight to prevent suicide during the month of November and you have a few dollars to spare, I'll leave a link to my November page in the description below. So I did a live stream a little while ago talking about writing and my YouTube channel, NaNoWriMo, other intellectual stuff. What's that dance he does in Spider-Man 3? I probably shouldn't be doing this on a live stream. I'm gonna embarrass myself. How does he do it again? That's just a little treat. That's a little taste of what you're in for. Someone in the stream asked me what I thought about the idea that writer's block doesn't exist. Apparently they brought it up because Meg from iWrightly had recently done a video talking about exactly that. And I'll be honest, the question kind of threw me off. It hadn't even crossed my peanut mind before that there's people out there that think writer's block doesn't exist. So I wasn't too sure how to even respond, but I was interested. My curiosity was peaked. So I watched Meg's video, and then I actually went and watched Alexa Don's video as well because she did a video about writer's block. And I gave it a lot of thought. I really did. I considered all of the points that both Meg and Alexa made in their videos, and I think I've come up with some opinions of my own. A lot of interesting points were made in those videos, and I'm not sure if it's necessarily that I disagree, or maybe it's rather that I think of writer's block just a bit differently than they do. It's entirely possible that I just have a very different idea of what writer's block actually is. Either way, I want to give my two cents for what it's worth because I am a very brain man, and I'm wrong, never. Look, jokes aside, before I get into it, I feel like I should make it clear that while I will be addressing points and responding to points that both Meg and Alexa have made in their videos, this isn't me shading them or calling them out. I know, listen, I know how fun and exciting drama is, especially in these YouTube communities. I know it's exciting, but this video is a beef-free zone. I'm sorry. At most, you could say this is a friendly debate, an exchange of opinions. That's all. And I encourage you to go and watch both Meg and Alexa's videos so that you can get the full picture for yourselves. I'm not saying I'm absolutely right. I rarely am. This is just how I feel. If you disagree with me, that's cool. I want to hear it. Let me know in the comments or help make your own video. Just, you know, don't be a dick about it. So if you want the short version, I do believe writer's block exists, at least from the angle of the technical definition. To me, writer's block is a pretty wildly encompassing thing, and I think that might be the reason that I'm finding myself disagreeing a bit with things that Meg and Alexa have said. Writer's block doesn't exist. I think if you're feeling stuck and you're not wanting to write a story or you're not able to figure out where to go next, usually in my opinion, it's probably because you didn't spend enough time planning where you're going. And even if you're a pancer or you are a gardener, meaning you're a discovery writer, you write and you figure out the story as you're going. You don't plan the story in advance. I would argue that if you're pancing hardcore, maybe you just got lost and you don't know where you're going and you do actually need to give yourself even a vague roadmap for where the story or the scene or the chapter is headed. You'll find links to the videos that I'm responding to in the description of course. So when Meg's video she says that she believes writer's block is a myth, due to the fact, normally at least, that it's due to a lack of thorough planning. And to be clear, writers becoming stuck because they didn't spend enough time planning or thinking about the narrative arc of the story, it's totally a thing. I agree with that. That's a regular Wednesday for me, my dude. However, to me, that seems like we're talking more about a solution to writer's block rather than if it exists or not. In looking into this whole conversation, this discussion, this controversial opinion, if you want to put it that way, not just on YouTube but on forums as well, most of the examples I see of writer's block not existing is just lists of possible fixes to that problem. You can avoid dehydration by drinking water, but that doesn't mean dehydration doesn't exist. I know that's an odd metaphor, I know that's an odd metaphor, but I'm just trying to illustrate a very specific point very clearly. If you find that pantsing isn't working for you, doing some planning may very well avoid getting stuck. I just don't think that necessarily means that writer's block doesn't exist, or I don't think it at least means that we can say writer's block is a myth. Meg also mentions a time that a personal tragedy impacted her ability to get some writing done. I found that I simply could not write, and it wasn't writer's block, it was the fact that I was mourning and dealing with kind of going through the emotions of mourning this person. And I actually agree wholeheartedly in that instance that that would be considered mourning rather than a writer's block. But also I think that kind of supports my point, that we're really just talking about writer's block being something different rather than not existing at all or simply being a myth. Having your ability to write be affected by serious things that are out of your control, like health, both physical and mental, resources and even time isn't really what I would consider writer's block, but maybe that's like a subjective personal thing. That's just kind of separate to me. Maybe I'm wrong, but to me writer's block is more of a creative hurdle, being stuck at a certain point in the story or becoming disenfranchised with your ability as a writer. That's not me saying mental factors don't play a part, they absolutely do, and in fact in most cases that's what's happening. I think most often the reason writer's hit a wall is because they start to feel overwhelmed or they start to lack faith in themselves. Scientifically speaking, most writer's block is actually due to a lack of blood flow to the frontal lobe. Something you might be able to fix by simply doing a little bit of exercise before you sit down to write. There's also a lack of sleep, there's boredom, seasonal and social depression. The feeling of being stuck in the same physical location for long periods of time can have a drastic impact on your writing. There are ways to overcome or at least combat those barriers of self-doubt, etc. But I think that boiling it down to writer's block is a myth because there are ways to beat it is a bit of an issue in itself. I'll explain why, but this is a really great time to bring Alexis' points into the discussion. The concept of writer's block and the way that people use it as an excuse for not writing is not real. Why? Because professional writers don't get writer's block. We can't get writer's block. Professional writers, serious writers even, you can't use writer's block as an excuse to write, meaning you can't always wait for inspiration to write. You can't wait for perfect creative moods to write. You learn to write as a habit. You learn to push through blocks and barriers. Thus, writer's block, as we kind of treat it in culture, especially in writer's culture, is not real. However, mental blocks in writing are 100% real. Creative blocks in writing are 100% real. You're like, wait, but you just said. So, separate writer's block as a concept from these other things. I'm feeling lazy versus I just need a good idea versus I am having a legitimate mental health block slash crisis and I need to self-care and take a break from writing, because they are very, very different. So, what I believe Alexa is saying, correct me if I'm wrong, Alexa, if you happen to be watching this, is that writer's block doesn't exist in the way that people seem to think it does. Now, this is an angle that fascinates me because I think this adds the nuance needed to a topic like this. I don't want to sound harsh, but writer's block can be and is a lot of the time simply used as an excuse for people who find themselves stuck. Hell, I've done it heaps of times. I'm sure I'll do it later later this week. I don't think it's our fault necessarily, simply because I think it's more of a subconscious thing. But if you can just go, well, I guess I've got writer's block. What can you do? And use that as a reason to avoid your project? That's an issue. I have spoken to people who think that writer's block is just this cosmic thing that just happens whether you like it or not, and that's just not always the case. Now, with all that said, that unfortunately does bring us back around full circle, back to the idea that we might just be talking about solutions to writer's block or maybe how people perceive it rather than if it exists or not. I don't want to argue the semantics or anything. I know that's super obnoxious. I'm not about to pull out the dictionary definition like some kind of tool. Hear me out though. I think that saying writer's block doesn't exist because there are solutions to it or maybe because people have the wrong mindset is just a bit dismissive to how all-encompassing that term writer's block can be. See, the problem I think saying writer's block is a myth causes is that it gives the impression we're saying just try harder, bro. It seems like we're suggesting that if writer's block does exist, it comes down to one of two things. One, you're not in the right place mentally to be doing any writing at all. Or two, you're just not trying hard enough. Again, maybe I'm just completely misunderstanding, but those two definitions just aren't what writer's block is to me. That's just an ultimatum I can't really relate to, you know? I've had certain times where I've had to take a little bit of time off from writing just because, quite simply, the next part of the story just wasn't coming to me. No matter how hard I try, and I know it's a thing that you're just meant to get the bad writing out and just power through it, but I just don't think it's always as simple as that. Sometimes it's like a certain fatigue that doesn't even have anything to do with where I am mentally. It's just something that happens is all I'm saying. Let me know if that ever happens to you. But to go back to Alexa's video and the point she made, and I think most importantly the main point I think she was trying to make is that you cannot just expect inspiration to come to you. 99% of the time, you need to put your ass in the seat and put the work in. Whether you like it or not, you should not be confusing the desire to procrastinate with writer's block. Those aren't the same thing, and you only have yourself to blame if you do that. It's obvious to me that that was the main message of Alexa's whole video, and I agree with that. Inspiration is for people who don't finish books. That is if you wait for it to come to you. If you treat inspiration, especially as it relates to that concept of writer's block, is this nebulous magical thing that just descends on you and allows you to be creative. No, find the inspiration. Make the inspiration come to you. Do something in that writing session to excite you about what you're writing, and then the inspiration will come. Here's the really tricky part with talking about writing, and I'm sure Alexa would agree. It's such a subjective and personal experience from person to person. Yes, most times you do have to sit down and make yourself right when your mind is screaming at you to do anything else. I've spoken in plenty of videos about how great I think brainstorming is for creativity and for getting yourself through a bit of writer's block. Here's the thing though, more times than I can count, taking just a few days off from writing has helped me just as much as forcing myself to get writing done. It just happens. Sometimes you need a break and that doesn't always have to mean that you're in a bad headspace. Writer's block is the big boogeyman in writing circles, and it's useful for new writers to hear what other writers say about it, because really writing is this weird thing where you can't learn to write except by practicing on your own. This goes for a lot of things, I'm sure, but it's really hard to mentor people in writing other than to say, well, go try out a bunch of stuff and see what works, because writers are all so different and individual, right? There can be a hundred different causes, some you can solve easily, some you can't, but it still makes sense to me personally that we give a name to the symptom, and that name just happens to be writer's block. I really didn't expect it, but in typing up the points for this video, I realized that writer's block is one of the most complicated topics I have ever discussed on this channel before. There's a lot of nuance and complexity to my opinions, but I'm sure there also is for Alexis and Megs as well. This video wasn't me correcting anyone, it wasn't me saying I'm right, they're wrong. It's just an exchange of opinions, like I said, and now it's your turn. What do you think? Thanks for watching. Catch ya.