Alphabet Soup

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Alphabet Soup
Human Writes: Writers block

Human Writes: Writers block

There’s nothing like the term “writer’s block” to block your writing | Non-Fiction | Fresh Soup

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Etgar Keret
Oct 15, 2021
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Alphabet Soup
Alphabet Soup
Human Writes: Writers block
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Photo by Shira Geffen

When I was in Australia a few years ago, an amiable local drunk told me about the Tasmanian tiger, an indigenous animal that is now extinct. The main reason for its extinction, according to this drunk, was the fact that it was called a tiger. “Everyone wants to catch himself a tiger,” he explained, “that’s how this not-very-scary animal found itself being hunted by all kinds of people who wanted a dead tiger on their résumé. Imagine for a minute that someone had named it a ‘Tasmanian cat’ instead, which in zoological terms is no less accurate. I bet it would still be living among us.” Indeed, language can mold reality, and not only if you’re a Tasmanian cat.

If there’s one concept in the creative world that I really—but really—dislike, it’s “writer’s block.” When authors complain of having writer’s block, they are likening creativity to a massive waterfall frothing away 24/7, while the block is a dam of some kind that violently blocks the water’s natural path. Under the pall of this metaphor, each day spent not writing is an anomalous day of exasperation.

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