TITLE: Not Writing At All Leads To Nothing
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: April 22, 2014  2:56 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
In
<A HREF="http://parade.condenast.com/280399/parade/anna-quindlen-on-writers-block-and-the-simple-secrets-to-a-long-marriage/">
   a recent interview</A>,
novelist and journalist Anna Quindlen was asked if she ever
has writer's block.  Her answer:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
Some days I fear writing dreadfully, but I do it anyway.
I've discovered that sometimes writing badly can
eventually lead to something better.  Not writing at all
leads to nothing.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

I deal with CS students all the time who are paralyzed by
starting on a programming assignment, for fear of doing
it wrong.  All that gets them is never done.  My job in
those cases is less likely to involve teaching them
something new they need to do the assignment and than to
involve helping them get past the fear.  A teacher
sometimes has to be a psychologist.

I'd like to think that, at my advanced age and experience,
I am beyond such fears myself.  But occasionally they are
there.  Sometimes, I just have to force myself to write
that first simple test, watch it fail, and ask myself,
"What now?"  As code happens, it may be good, or it may
be bad, but it's not an empty file.  Refactoring helps me
make it better as I go along.  I can always delete it all
and start over, but by then I know more than I did at
the outset, and I usually am ready to plow ahead.
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