Is It a Paradox to Write About Writer’s Block?

A List of Ways to Beat the Block.

Photo from Unsplash.

I’ll set the scene: it’s a Sunday morning, and I’m sitting on the couch wearing the same ratty sweatpants I’ve worn every weekend since 2016. Gilmore Girls is on, my coffee cup is full, the dog is snoozing on the couch, and my last two brain cells are duking it out for the privilege of coming up with something to write about. Throwaway headlines have included: A Practical Guide to Poisonous Plants and Baking (for research purposes only), How to Cure Boredom in Two Easy Steps (one of which is just going to sleep), Do I Have Coronavirus or Just A Cold? (a quiz that I still don’t have answers to), and What I Ate for Breakfast This Morning (nothing, as usual). In case this doesn’t quite illustrate the gravity of the situation, I’m so badly blocked that in order to avoid the blank face of my computer staring me down and mocking my lack of inspiration, I actually folded and put away my laundry. Those who know me know that this historical event happens approximately two times per quarter — when I’m avoiding midterms, and when I’m avoiding finals. Folding laundry could perhaps be considered my signature avoidance tactic.

Trying to get the writing mojo back has proven to be one of the more annoying difficulties that periodically plagued me. My productivity is cyclical to the nth degree — I go…