As a child, I learned that I could theoretically ask “why?” until the explanations reached the end of the universe and all that remained was another “why?” without an answer. Of course, my parents’ patience never reached that far. People have busy lives, and while our curiosity is endless, our patience is not. Add to that the usual (if ineffective) focus of communication on having said our part rather than reaching a common understanding, and eventually we stop asking. But our brains don’t. To make sense of all the things we encounter in life that are unexpected, unusual, unknown, or uncomfortable, it tells us stories.

In just two months, the Left Party in Germany went from being virtually written off for this election to winning 8.8%. In the news, the success is described as “unexpected”, a “surprise” or even a “miracle”¹. Speculation is rife as to how they did it. I won’t argue with any of the theories, but I will add my own: The Left Party did an excellent job of storytelling.

In fact, the Left Party did such a good job that I kept their flyer (which happened to be the only direct campaign advertisement I received) as an example.

Suffering from writer’s block is misery. Whether it is the result or the process of writing that we care about, writer’s block keeps us from achieving it. And that feels terrible.

But what if writer’s block, haunting as it is, offers an opportunity?

I’m not saying it’s not hard. It is. Even though there are countless guides on how to deal with it, and I’m sure that at least the writer has benefited from their approach. Just as there are countless people who’ve never experienced it telling us that it’s all in our heads (of course it is¹) and that we should just write again to get rid of it (for sure). Advice like that feels a lot like being told to just be happy again while suffering from depression. What I would like to offer is a different perspective.