Mike Birbiglia tells Michael Showalter about writer's block in the 21st century, and hating movie cliches

Michael Showalter has a new thing he's tumbling on Tumblr called Lost in Plot, in which he talks to other creative types about the writing process.

Today Showalter questions comedian Mike Birbiglia about it, which is timely since Birbigs has a new book out called "Sleepwalk With Me: And Other Painfully True Stories."

A couple of excerpts from the beginning and end of Showalter's chat with Birbiglia:

Do you ever get writer’s block? If yes, please elaborate.

I don’t call it that, but sure.  I feel like I’m in a constant state of tricking myself into writing. I have to block out like 6-7 hours where there is no agenda except writing. Blocking that time is hard for me to do b/c there are so many distractions, like the Internet and also the Internet. 

What’s your favorite movie cliché? (Eg: The montage where the guy/girl practices introducing himself to the love interest in the mirror.)

Tough one. I could make a joke but I kind of hate movie clichés because they remind me that there’s a studio executive somewhere doing a rewrite with the artistic intention of “How can this make more MONEY?”