Writer's Block is a Myth

I recently had a conversation with a friend, and was told they haven’t written anything lately because of writer's block. It perplexed me. I’m 26 and have written articles for over 10 years. I’ve never suffered from so-called writer's block. Some may struggle to generate material, but there’s no such thing as writer's block.

Merriam-Webster defines it as "a psychological inhibition preventing a writer from proceeding with a piece." The world’s full of stories. How could one say they can’t write or have nothing to write about? I can understand if someone chooses not to write, but it’s not the same as being incapable of writing. Pressing buttons on a keyboard is easy. The internet makes writing especially easy. If you Google various keywords, you can find news articles about different topics. It’s an easy way to find potential stories. I do this with words and phrases germane to conservative politics, like abortion, transgender, transgender sports, occupational licensing, tampons in men's bathrooms, immigration, Massachusetts, New Hampshire primary, Trump, Biden, DeSantis, Bernie, RFK, etc.

Last week, the news cycle was slow for me since I’ve little interest in foreign wars, but Javier Milei won the presidency in Argentina—and I was a libertarian five years ago, so that was an easy one to cover. Finally, we may see a real-world example of whether or not libertarianism can work as an alternative to failing big government policies that’ve exacerbated inflation and poverty. Earlier in the month, a boy playing field hockey in Massachusetts hit a girl in the face with a line-drive shot and sent her to the hospital. That was another easy one. The absurdity of boys playing girls' sports writes itself.

Evergreens and enterprise reporting are two other ways to write without paying close attention to the 24-hour news cycle. This is the type of non-time-sensitive content that remains relevant whether you wrote it on January 12, 2014, or November 26, 2023. Both sports and politics, which I’ve covered, are good examples.

If I want to write an article about flaws in our country’s work visa programs, my increasing skepticism of marijuana, or my support for universal healthcare or adding a human life amendment to the United States Constitution, I could do that at any time since the political landscape regarding these topics will not change soon. Or, with football, I can write articles about long-snapping or reflection pieces about my high school football career at any time. Maybe publications have more interest in running them in the fall, but long-snapping existed in 2010 and will in 2030.

Enterprise reporters also understand how to produce content. These people must conduct unique research to cover topics ignored by the legacy media and press releases. They remind us that if you have no clue what to write about, you need to conduct more research and learn more about topics. Those who work in alternative media embrace this role out of necessity since they can’t beat the mainstream media by copying them. Given the decline of newsrooms and growing news deserts across America, enterprise reporting is becoming easier. Living in liberal Massachusetts, I have almost no competition looking to report on how many dudes play field hockey, schools putting tampons in boys' bathrooms, how badly the state loses by not legalizing fireworks, or how journalists keep giving money to liberal politicians.

If you can’t immediately think of a story idea, think harder.