Seth Godin often stresses out how you can never hear something like a “plumber’s block”; a plumber can do his job anytime he wants. But can you really compare plumbing and writing?
A plumber is someone who installs and fixes pipes. Therefore, if you have a building, a water source, some pipes, and some tools to connect all of these, you’ve got yourself a job.
Imagine a plumber walking into a building to set the faucet but there aren’t any pipes nor water source. Would a plumber have a plumber’s block in that case? You bet he would.
Just, it doesn’t happen that way. A plumber always makes sure that he has a water source, some pipes and then he sets the faucet.
A writer’s job is to create some thoughts and write them down and give them to the reader; a water source, some pipes, and a faucet.
Often, a writer’s block happens when a writer has a strong desire to give something to the reader, but he doesn’t know what nor how. Instead of making sure that he has an idea and some words to depict that idea, he whines about not being able to write and ignores all the necessary preparation.
Getting an idea for writing is difficult, so is supplying an entire city with water, and yet most of you who are reading this article have water in your homes.
Before sitting down to write, you must figure out what you’re going to write about and the words will come by themselves, as well as the readers.