How Writing is like Pooping
"When you need to get it out, you need to get it out." - Rebecca Bates, RPN
Nov 21, 2022
In a discussion with my writing friends today, it was determined that writing is like pooping. How, do you ask? Let me tell you a good ole, knee-slapping story about this topic of conversation.
As a member of an online RPG Forum dedicated to Harry Potter, not JK Rowling, a fellow member mentioned that their brain was giving them “posting constipation.” Now, I had never heard of this term before but immediately it made me LOL and I had to ask for more information. It turns out RPG has been referred to as “pooping out posts” and thus posting constipation seemed like an appropriate term for having writer’s block.
Side note: For those of you who do not know what an online RPG forum is, it’s a site, often proboards or jcink, in which writers create characters and write stories together collaboratively. Each writer writes from the perspective of their own character and it’s almost like writing improvisation
Back to “pooping out posts” and “posting constipation.”
Other members expressed that “pooping was very satisfying except when spicy or liquid.”
The liquid poop metaphor is writing that flows effortlessly but somehow the writer still doubts the quality of the writing (much like severe diarrhea and the uncertainty of whether it’s finished) but often makes the writer (or victim of diarrhea) feel empty inside and without the satisfaction of the right amount of effort.
The spicy poop metaphor is writing that hurts afterward, whether that is something emotionally painful or difficult to read but with enough fiber (content) it can still be very satisfying.
Writing Constipation comes along when writer’s just cannot write (writer’s block) but also when there are really long segments of a writing project with a lot of content to cover. Those can cause writing constipation as well when the writer just cannot get the words (or poop) out.
When you need to get it out, you need to get it out. You gotta rush to the nearest place to dump your load, and in this metaphor, the nearest place is your pen and notepad or your writing app on your phone or your google drive. Whatever a writer uses to jot those immediate ideas (or turds) down.
How do you cure writing constipation? Well, there’s a whole blog on writer’s block that talks about solutions to writer’s block. We’ll refer to these solutions as “writing laxatives” in this metaphor. Music. Walks in the outdoors. A good book or movie. There’s plenty.
Now you know how writing is like pooping.