Why kids and prolific writers
don't suffer from writer's block

Kids don't know enough to judge themselves

If you ask a little kid to write something for you - they will have no problem dealing with writer's block.

As long as they know how to write letters - they can write on any subject, and will be happy to proudly present their work, because they don't know enough to realize that their writing is bad.

This lack of self-judgment will help them to learn quickly.

Prolific writers know enough not to judge themselves

Prolific writers know the difference between good and bad writing, but they also understand that all writing always starts out bad.

They can write a terrible first draft with the confidence that they have the skills to make it good. They know that the words they produce are just the raw material they will shape into a good article by following their process.

They have developed the skill of not judging themselves, and it helps them be prolific and learn quickly.

Novice writers know just enough to judge themselves

But novice writers - they have the worst of both worlds.

They have the self-awareness to know that their writing is bad, but not the confidence in their ability to make it good. They compare their first drafts with the best essays written by writers who have decades of experience, and have been working on them for weeks (if not years).

Novice writers don't understand that the first step to creating good writing is creating bad writing.

The first step to writing well is writing poorly

The solution to this problem - allow yourself to write junk.

You can't control the outcome, you can only control the process - your daily act of writing. So get comfortable producing writing you don't like - it is the first step to producing writing you're proud of.