This week, for the first time in the history of my blog, I had a tough time settling on a topic. I thought and thought, wracked my overwrought brain, thought some more, and came up with … nothing. Finally, I decided this was the perfect time to discuss my philosophy on … wait for it … writer’s block.

Don’t believe in it. End of story.

Writing, if you’re serious about it, is a job—same as any other. If you want to get paid, you get up and go to work. That’s all there is to it.

If you’re wondering about inspiration, the creative muse, or some other such nonsense, let me give you a great substitute for when the muse heads off to warmer climates: hard work.

No one ever said wrestling a story out of my head and onto the page was going to be easy, but whose job is easy? Practicing law sure wasn’t easy. Sanitation workers don’t have it easy. Why would writing be any different?

Sometimes the words take a while to start flowing, but that’s okay. Sometimes the characters speak wooden dialogue that rightfully belongs in a 1939 Bette Davis movie, but that’s okay, too. Sometimes I have butt problems and don’t want to stay in the chair to write, but that’s okay. I have to power through it and remember the book isn’t going to press tomorrow. Every word (most words) won’t be perfect, but who’s perfect?

Some people believe that “blocked” writers actually have impossible expectations of themselves. I think that’s right. Like Nora Roberts says, “I can fix a bad page, but I can’t fix a blank one.” If Nora Roberts has bad pages, what the heck am I worried about?

There’s another great writer’s quote that I’m sure I’m going to mangle, but here goes: “Writing is 100% inspiration, and I make sure I’m inspired every morning by nine-thirty.”

I won’t claim to be THAT disciplined, but it’s a constant goal.

The cure for writer’s block is to sit at the keyboard and work through it. That’s all I have to say on the subject.

Hopefully next week I’ll be able to think of a topic to blog about.