“What can I do about writer’s block?” I am asked regularly in workshops or in coaching.

“Pretty much what a plumber does when he feels a plumber’s block,” I’ll respond.

People twitter here and there, perhaps because they take my response for a joke and they’re anticipating a good punch line.

But, this is no joke. A good plumber, I tell these “blocked” writers, goes about his job whether he’s inspired to lay in the pipes of a new bathroom or not. He solders, joins and cuts pipe that afternoon whether he feels like it or not. It is the same with a writer who is serious about writing. Writers write because writing is what they have to do to get their work done.

Writing doesn’t entail only composing new text—the material whose creation we often attribute to “inspiration.” The task of writing also includes a whole array of support services: research, editing existing copy for content and technical problems, rereading copy to check the effectiveness of transitions, etc.

As long as a writer thinks writing is only putting new words to paper, s/he is bound to encounter numerous occasions for writer’s-block problems. When however a writer thinks of writing as the total production, then any number of tasks can produce the satisfaction of “writing.”

The first task I encourage all memoir writers to undertake is the Memory List. With a Memory List, no one ever need feel they don’t have anything to write about.

Some writers will persist, however, in identifying problems as writer’s block. Here are some suggestions for dealing with the “problem.”

Think of the writer’s block as a lack of discipline. This will help to place it in perspective. After all, it’s an excuse—sanctioned by a misplaced reliance on inspiration—for not getting work done. Writing is a job that has a number of requirements and stages, and each in turn must be approached with discipline—a respect for the inner exigencies of the tasks. To approach writing otherwise is to risk being overwhelmed with all there is to do. Lack of discipline is often a source of writer’s block. Lack of discipline is an enemy of lifewriting lying in wait for you.

Some writers successfully use the notion of writer’s block to convince friends and family that, while they’re real writers, they just happen not to be producing—but a person can do this only for a while. Remember: you can never successfully use writer’s block to get your stories written!

Just as any craft person develops a series of approaches that lead to greater production, a lifewriter can do the same. If you create a workmanlike approach, you will succeed.

Don’t let writer’s block stop you. It’ a hoax.