Robert Kolker has spent years asking himself a simple question to get through writer’s block: “What if writing were fun?”
The author of The Vanishing Family shared that trick — and plenty of other confessions — in a Lit Hub questionnaire. The book, which asks whether dementia could someday be cured, is out now from Doubleday.
Kolker’s answers range from funny to philosophical. His approach to writer’s block is to loosen up, stop taking himself so seriously, and pretend the whole thing is enjoyable. That note worked for years until his kids found it and mocked it as bleak.
The Note That Worked
Kolker kept a handwritten note posted at his desk while he wrote. The note read: “What if this were fun?”
It unclenched and loosened up. Not feeling quite so exposed or onstage when he was struggling.
Then his children saw it and thought it was pretty bleak, so he took it down. But he swears it can totally work.
A Career Built on Cliffs
Before he became a novelist, Kolker worked at a weekly community newspaper in Manhattan. He covered stories that unfolded week after week.
Everything had a cliffhanger. Will the protesters stop the skyscraper? Will the police stop the crack-dealing on one block? Will the political-club president admit to embezzling?
He fell for the narrative aspect of journalism there, and the human aspect, too.
That job taught him to love the arc of a story, even when it was unfolding in real time.
Garp Made Him Laugh, Cry, and Mad
When asked about a book that elicited the most intense emotional reaction, Kolker pointed to The World According to Garp by John Irving.
He got mad when he first read it. Young, he said, the tragic twists seemed sadistic to him. He read it a few years later and cried because he was starting to get just how random and chaotic life can be.
More recently, he laughed with recognition at how much Irving already understood about the world we’ve come to live in.
The Books He Recommends
For other writers, Kolker pairs two very different books.
He likes Stephen King’s On Writing for its tips on making it through a first draft. But he pairs it with Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up, which he calls “so much more than a memoir.”
To Kolker, it’s a brilliant description of the discipline and thoughtfulness that’s needed to refine and ratchet up writing into something that, to outsiders, can seem so light and easy.
Who Should Read This Book
Kolker wants anyone tempted to skip to the end of any story to pick up The Vanishing Family. The book is about people who can see their future — but for them the stakes couldn’t be higher.
That’s a pretty wide net. But the target audience is anyone who has ever skipped ahead in a book or a movie, wondering what happens next.
What We Make Of It
Kolker’s approach to writing is refreshingly simple: treat it like play.
His note worked for years, even though it was eventually taken down by his kids. That detail makes the advice feel less like a stale tip and more like a real strategy that actually worked.
The comparison between King’s On Writing and Martin’s Born Standing Up is also telling. King’s book is a practical guide for getting words on the page. Martin’s is a memoir about discipline and refinement.
| Book | Focus |
|---|---|
| On Writing by Stephen King | Practical tips on finishing a first draft |
| Born Standing Up by Steve Martin | Memoir of discipline and refinement |
Kolker recommends both together, pairing the hands-on with the reflective.
The Bottom Line
Kolker’s writer’s block trick is simple enough that anyone can try it.
- Write down the question “What if writing were fun?” and post it where you can see it.
- Stop taking yourself seriously when you’re struggling.
- Pretend the whole thing is enjoyable.
- Keep the note up for as long as it works.
The note that worked for years, the book that made him mad and then made him cry, and the two books he pairs for other writers — all of it adds up to a portrait of a writer who takes his craft seriously but doesn’t take himself too seriously.
The Vanishing Family is available now from Doubleday, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.
The book asks a big question: can dementia be ended. Kolker’s answers suggest he knows how to ask the question without losing sight of the joy of the writing itself.
Source material: “Robert Kolker Motivates Himself By Asking “What if Writing Were Fun?”,” Literary Hub.
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