How Long Is a Writer’s Block?

A block is an informal unit of distance popular in the U.S. To an engineer, a block is the average distance between street intersections in the rectangular grid system used in most American cities. To a writer, a block is a devastating phenomenon involving temporary loss of ability to continue writing, usually due to lack of inspiration or creativity.

This is my excuse for not having posted a blog in WAY TOO LONG. And I figure if I’m lacking inspiration and creativity, at least I can write about that! But before getting started, I had to reference Wikipedia for further insight into this phenomenon. Here’s some information I found regarding the origins of this crippling disease I’ve been infected with.

Writer's Block can be closely related to depression and anxiety, two disorders that reflect environmentally-caused or spontaneous changes in the brain's frontal lobe.

Depression and anxiety: CHECK!

Some people would suggest that many working-class writers are sometimes unable to devote themselves to, or concentrate on, their writing because their social and economic circumstances prevent them from doing so.

Less-than-ideal social & economic circumstances: CHECK!

It is widely thought that writer's block is simply part of a natural ebb and flow in the creative process. Author Justina Headley explains in keynote speeches that for her it comes from losing touch with the characters about whom she is writing, and that by discovering who they are again the block disintegrates.

Losing touch with myself and the characters around me: CHECK!

Although there are many excuses for this phenomenon I’m experiencing, I’ve never thought it could develop into a chronic problem.

But there have been cases where writer's block has lasted for years or decades. The most notable example of this in modern literary history was Henry Roth's writer's block which persisted for sixty years and was caused by a combination of depression, political problems, and an unwillingness to confront past problems. This kind of writer's block seems to be quite rare, and most writer's block lasts between an hour and a week.

So, sometimes you have to endure a long block (900ft in Manhattan) and sometimes you only have to walk a short one (only 264ft). I guess the point here is that all blocks come to an end. Interestingly enough, the time between the end of one block and the beginning of another is a dangerous time filled with oncoming traffic and other mentally-disturbed pedestrians. These intersecting forces, which can be thought to conjure up inspiration and creativity, are all that are standing in your way of another trying block.

And don't think for a second that just because I was able to put together this posting means my block is anywhere close to being over. But that's just me being the cynical writer that I am, or am aspiring to be.

P.S. The screen-capture at the top of this post is supposedly of my block (per Google Maps), but I find it interesting that my building seemingly isn't on there (don't be fooled by the green arrow). Just what I need, something else that makes me question my existence!!