The Luxury of Writer’s Block …
About Writer’s Block …
Pune, Maharashtra India, 8 September 2025, 08:15 am:
Digital illustration depicting a writer, generated in collaboration with MidJourney.
Can I write a 5000-word article in a day?
Can I write a 5000-word article and edit 2, 1000-word articles in a day?
Can I write a 5000-word article, edit 2, 1000-word articles and design a 1-hour learning program in a day?
Can I write a 5000-word article, edit 2, 1000-word articles, design a 1-hour learning program and ideate a new assessment system in a day?
Can I write a 5000-word article, edit 2, 1000-word articles, design a deep-learning program, ideate a new assessment system, write a new poem, and compose a new song, in a day?
Can I write a 5000-word article, edit 2, 1000-word articles, design a deep-learning program, ideate a new assessment system, write a new poem, compose a new song, and cook a full meal for the family in a day?
Can I write a 5000-word article, edit 2, 1000-word articles, design a deep-learning program, write a new poem, compose a new song, cook a full meal for the family, and walk 5 kilometres in a day?
Can I do it living in my house with my family, and helping with regular chores?
*Can I do it for 7 days at a stretch? *
*A month? *
A year?
That is approximately how I live my life, more or less. That is how I have built skills, configured efficiency, tested proficiency, found and then pushed the limits of my performance. The example described is in relation to one specific everyday activity: writing.
For the sake of clarity: I write every day. It is one of the reasons why I can’t answer the question that many have asked me over the years: “How do you deal with writer’s block?”
People who have writer’s block are probably people who are - or have been, at least once - successful. Or maybe they are clear that they have greatness running through them, which is why they have pressure to create something monumental, something extraordinary, something profound every time they write. At the very least, they must have time on their hands.
I don’t have to deal with writer’s block because I have never had the luxury to think of writing as a choice. I have never had the time to wonder if what I write is mundane or profound, useless or useful. I have never stopped to ponder about confidence or self-doubt, nor weigh success and failure, or even to choose between working and living.
I just write. It’s one of my mechanisms to understand myself and the world. Nothing more, nothing less.
(I had written this piece on 28 July 2021, 10.12 pm. It constituted 406 of the 5000 words for that day. I am simply posting this today since someone asked me about writer’s block just yesterday).