Critic's Block

In 1998, John Resnick, the lead singer of Goo Goo Dolls, was suffering a serious case of writer's block. The Goo Goo Dolls had scored their first mainstream hit with 'Name' and the pressure was immense to recreate the commercial success.

The song 'Iris' was written for the movie City of Angels and in an interview, John Resnick describes how he overcame the block:

"I was able to assume a different character and it really helped me complete my own song because I was writing from the perspective of Nicolas Cage so it was interesting. I was able to say things that I might not say normally."

Iris is one of their best-known songs and a concert staple to this day.

There has been a lot of debate on writer's block.

Stephen King doesn't believe in it. If he did, he wouldn't have been able to write over 65 novels and 200 short stories. Seth Godin says if a plumber doesn't feign plumber's block, why do writers feign writer's block? Valid point.

There is another aspect to writer's block. I call it critic's block. This is not creating anything to avoid being ridiculed or criticized.

More often than not, it isn't about not having ideas. It's about being open to the possibility that not everyone will embrace them in the way you expect.