The barren wasteland of no thoughts, no ideas and a ton of excuses.

Students and writers of all kinds experience it and will likely use it in an attempt to gain sympathy from bosses, editors and teachers alike. This unfortunate and often overplayed excuse is called “writer’s block.”

Though I am affected by this malady every time I have to write, even I can admit it’s kind of ridiculous. Imagine if a doctor claimed they couldn’t operate on a dying patient because they had “doctor’s block.”

The justification of writer’s block can come off as pretty conceited. Thinking that our ideas can only be written while we’re in the perfect mood and in the perfect environment seems egotistical. But in reality, writer’s block comes from a place of fear and a desire for perfection.

Putting ideas (and subsequently oneself) out there is frankly terrifying, especially when potential criticism is on the table. Trying to achieve perfection before ever even starting leads to a downward spiral of self-doubt and an evaporation of creativity.

Think of writing like running a marathon. At the start, there’s no end in sight. Midway through, there reaches a point where no one feels like running anymore and the easiest solution is to just stop and lay down somewhere. Claiming to have writer’s block is that convenient way out.

Even as I wrote this column, I claimed to have writer’s block at least a dozen times. It’s just something that writers, myself included, can’t get away from. Though you can look up a million articles on how to conquer writer’s block, I have one piece of advice that works every time:

Just write! Once you get some words down, you’ll eventually find the perfect way to say them.

_Edited by Claire Colby | ccolby@themaneater.com_