Writer's block, an owner's guide: Writer’s block and impotence

In “Shakespeare in Love,” Will can’t write because he is impotent. In “Throw Mamma From the Train” Larry is impotent because he can’t write. Is there really a connection? Or if not, where did the screenwriters get these two ideas?

There could be a link between the two problems. Let’s be honest, everyone has experienced both of them. Any man who says otherwise hasn’t written very often.

So let’s look, briefly, furtively, I promise, but let’s look at the possibility of a link between writer’s block and sexual dysfunction.

A glance at Google Scholar doesn’t show any research at all on the question (I haven’t taken the time to look in the more established academic sources). Also, I’m not aware of any urban mythology about this, and regular Google doesn’t do more than hint at it. So I don’t even know where these two scriptwriters got their ideas. But let’s think about it anyway.

If writers do suspect there is a link, is that why block is so embarrassing, why we try not to admit having it, why we often deny it?

“In passing I talk about [writer's block] with friends who are songwriters, but it’s a bit like impotence - you don’t really talk about how much Viagra you’re using - you kind of keep it to yourself,” notes Loudon Wainwright III in Grammy magazine.

Well, let’s see. Accepting that all male writers have both of these problems at times in our lives, do we tend to have both at the same time? I don’t know; certainly not always. But yes, they can both (let’s assume) be caused by anxiety and stress, by circumstances, by medical problems. Also, there’s a not-entirely-mythological chain that goes like this: Troubled Writer->>Substance Abuse->>Physical Wreck. So in many cases they probably do occur together. If they share a single cause, maybe they could also share a cure.

What about women writers? Well, women have sexual dysfunctions too; less obvious and prohibitive usually, it’s true, but dysfunctions all the same. But I notice that I can’t think of many seriously blocked women writers. That’s interesting, huh? Are there not many, or am I just not thinking of them? Is there a gender difference in block? The question could be important, and I don’t know the answer.

Even if there is a gender difference, it needn’t be genetic, needn’t be chemical. It could be psychosocial, like this: in keeping with the theme of this blog (which is something like “creative behaviors require intrinsic motivation“) here’s a possible reason that men can’t perform as well as other people. It’s this: men don’t know that it’s ok to do things just for fun.

That’s only a suggestion, it’s not very well stated and there are obvious holes in it. But as an interesting generalization… huh? huh? (nudges you annoyingly)

To some humans, everything’s a project, everything has to be done responsibly and correctly. Which is exactly why it sometimes doesn’t get done at all. And that brings us back around to things I’ve mentioned before about human motivation.

Look: our dates don’t like our blocks. Our readers, our impatient would-be readers don’t like our inability to perform. Let’s not do that any more. Sex is fun and writing is fun. Approach them that way and it’s easier to begin and easier to follow through. Not just for you but for everyone involved.

Like it or not, good writing is the same as good dating: you feel like you’re having fun (and you are) but the really important thing, the way that you make a difference in the world, lies in how your behavior reaches out to someone else and starts to bridge the space between you. And it lies in how far you have the courage to reveal your natural self. Scary and fun, like a rollercoaster.

This would be the perfect moment for me to start talking about Mihalyi Csziksentmihalyi. Which is exactly what I was planning to do next. Will it happen? Keep reading.

Published on March 27, 2005 at 12:48 am. Linking to this article? Thank you! The permanent address is http://www.todayiwrite.com/journal/writers-block-and-impotence.html

Today I Write