Excerpt from Chapter: "Writer's block is no stranger to anyone who has ever put pencil to paper for purposes of creating a written text. We 'all have suffered from it at one time or another. And it seems once we admit to having it, the condition only worsens. Once we put the name 'block' on whatever is interfering with our flow ofwords, we might as well be standing outside in the midst ofa Northern Canadian winter freeze waiting for a thaw. A block is an obstruction, a hindrance. Blocks prevenr passage and can be difficult to remove. They make us stuck. To become unstuck requires considerable mental and physical energy, energy that is so focused on the removal of the block that nothing else of any consequence can be done in the process. And, if and when you successfully remove the block, what are you left with? No writing, only a cleared passageway. That is precisely why I prefer not to characterise any lapse in my ability to compose as wrirer's block. The term is counter-productive."