If You Have Writer's Block, Maybe You Should Stop Lying
This article has a very "you're all a bunch of phoneys" kinda vibe that I both love and hate. I think this kind of optimistic cynicism is much derided in Western culture and especially so in North America where we live under the tyranny of optimism. I think Žižek described it well and I would paraphrase his insight as, not only are we coerced to do things that we don't want to do, we are also expected to act as if we love doing them.<p>It reminds me of British customer service. If you haven't lived in the UK you might not be familiar with the phenomenon of a checkout person being surly. They clearly don't want to be scanning your groceries or engaging in inane chit-chat with you. And they have almost no pretence about that fact. At first it was a shock to me but after some time I grew to appreciate it. It's a similar observation many who have lived in both New York and California make about the general difference in phoneyness between the coasts. New Yorkers may seem assertive/rude/cold at first but you will soon love the fact you always know where you stand.<p>So I interpret the author as saying: not only are you being forced to write about something you don't want to write about, you can't even admit you don't want to write about it. Instead you make excuses like you are blocked, you big phoney. While that is likely to be a valid insight for some cases, I don't believe that it applies to all cases.