Facing the Blank Page

Abstract

We try to be exact when we write, because writing carries the onus of permanently associating the author with a final product that will be read by an audience of potentially unlimited size and critical powers. This imaginary readership intimidates the writing process in a salutary way, because it reduces the presentation of totally spontaneous, illconsidered rubbish. In this sense, the writer’s block that prevents easy generation of the written word is probably beneficial to society. The trait is certainly conserved in the evolution of surgical scholars, as 77% of our authors described blocking symptoms in response to a questionnaire about writing their chapter for this book (Fig. 43.1).

Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.

Of Studies, Francis Bacon (1561–1626)