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On the Craft

To beat the empty page

Writer's block; César Aira's "flight forward"; chance

Fernando Sdrigotti's avatar
Fernando Sdrigotti
Mar 11, 2024
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Writer’s block doesn’t exist

“There's no such thing as writer's block.” That's me talking to myself, reminding myself that even when I can't write, I can still write. This I have long suspected and since I started to post one piece a week here in this newsletter, I’ve had more than one chance to confirm it.

No, there’s no writer’s block. Unless there’s a motor or psychological impairment that’s stopping a person from writing, what we mean by writer’s block is simply someone trying to write the wrong thing at the wrong time, or the right thing, starting from the wrong place. This sounds like a Zen koan but let me give you some examples, and you’ll see what I mean.

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