While I write fiction under my own name, I make a living as a ghostwriter. I get paid to write books for my valued clients. All kinds of books: novels and non-fiction topics including self-help, business, healthcare, nutrition, and public policy. I write and my clients send me money. In the past twenty years I’ve written at least one hundred books. I don’t know for certain because I’ve lost count, but five per year is a ballpark estimate.

As for the publication success of the manuscripts I deliver, I don’t know what happens to most of them. Every once in a while I search for my literary children on Amazon. Some never appear. Others hit best-seller status and get hundreds of five-star reviews. It makes no difference to me.

I’m always interested in discussions among my fellow scribes about writer’s block. This malady seems very common, and wise people write endless essays and advice columns offering tips and suggestions on how to overcome this terrible affliction. I won’t go into all the various tricks and techniques. Suffice to say there are a lot of them!

Erica Jong offered some pretty good insight into writer’s block: “All writing problems are psychological problems. Blocks usually stem from the fear of being judged. If you imagine the world listening, you’ll never write a line. That’s why privacy is so important. You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.”

It’s interesting that when you’re a mercenary like me, you know you will have at least one keenly interested reader: your client. When your client is happy with your writing, they’ll keep paying you. If they get bored or disillusioned, or you fail to deliver, they’ll stop paying you. It’s a very simple transaction.

The books I write for my clients do not bear my name. I’m as anonymous as the guy who made the paper on which the book is printed. In a peculiar way, this eliminates the psychological problem highlighted by Erica Jong. This anonymity, combined with the pressure to deliver and get paid, wipes away the fear of being judged by the marketplace. I’m insulated from its ego-damaging effects.

Writer’s Block Is Not an Option

To hit my income goal, I need to write 2,500 words per day. If I don’t deliver, I don’t get paid. This is a powerful incentive to get the job done. For me, writer’s block is an unimaginable luxury. I have a blank page in front of me and I need to fill it with professional quality, nutritious writing. I get paid to solve creative problems for my client, not surrender to them.

In a sense, I’m at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum from Erica Jong. She advises to write for no one, but do it solely for the pleasure of writing. Write because it’s fun and keeps you busy. This will give you psychological freedom, and she’s right about that. At the other end of the spectrum, you can write as if failure to deliver means you will not eat or pay your rent. That has a powerful clarifying effect and gives you another form of freedom, which can lead you to write more books than you ever imagined you could.

Of course, the big caveat is that my client chooses the subject. If my client wants a self-help book about eating disorders, that’s what I write. If my client wants a thriller about the president of the United States getting AIDS while in office, that’s what I write. Right now, I’m writing two books. One is all about human skin and the other is a legal/medical novel about an alcoholic lawyer. I work on one and then the other, back and forth. Writer’s block is not an option!

Unless you’re getting paid to write, my best advice is to write whatever the hell you want. Just have fun. When you’re bored, stop. Put your writing away. If you want to try and get your story or novel published, let it sit for a few months. Don’t think about it. Then pull it out and look at it.

You might just say, “Hey—this is pretty good! But I have some ideas to make it better…”