Overcoming Writer’s Block

What is it? First of all, writer’s block does NOT reflect poorly on you as a writer. It happens to everyone. Writer’s block is situational anxiety when it comes to writing. It is when a writer does not know what to say or how to say it in their writing.

General Issues Regarding Writer’s Block Writer’s block is not the same thing as procrastination: People who procrastinate do not want to do their work and thus put it off or do something else instead. People with writer’s block want to write but are oftentimes unsure of where to begin.

Where does it come from? There are a variety of reasons you may have writer’s block, such as: Stress; school-related or otherwise Insecurity of your writing skills Time constraints Not being familiar with the topic about which you are writing Fatigue

What to do… Take a break Don’t isolate yourself Build confidence Ask for help Collaborate Build confidence Focus on your strengths Don’t ask too much of yourself Relax and try to de-stress Ask yourself questions

Other Strategies for Overcoming General Writer’s Block Do’s Don’ts -Take detailed notes and reflect upon them. -Be passive or detached when reviewing sources. -Engage in pre-writing processes such as free-writing, concept mapping, and brainstorming. -Just start writing; if you have not thought things through, you will struggle and grow frustrated. -Place the thesis/outline before you, and then write the first supporting paragraph. -Begin with the intro. paragraph; introductions are difficult and put additional pressure on you. -Eliminate all distractions and try to clear your mind. -Have your phone nearby, have a browser open, etc.; you must eliminate “noise.” -Talk it out with someone else (or with yourself); hearing yourself talk about the topic will help. -Work in complete silence and solitude; it is important that you talk things out. -Accept that the paper will never be perfect; you will take a great deal of pressure off this way. -Insist the draft be perfect; expecting everything to come together at once leads to paralysis. -Remember to take breaks (15 minutes for every 45 minutes of writing), take walks, etc. -Turn the writing of the essay into the running of a marathon; it’s important to break up the process. -Seek out support from the Writing Center. -Ignore resources that are available to you. -Know your strengths as a writer and play to those same strengths. -“Throw things at the wall and see what sticks”; have a clearer sense of your writing process. -Be patient with (and good to) yourself. -Be impatient and overly demanding.

Issues Regarding Writer’s Block and Research Papers In the case of a research paper, Writer’s Block likely stems from two separate yet interrelated factors: You do not feel ready to begin writing with confidence. You feel overwhelmed by the amount of information that you have gathered. Both of these situations are indications that you need to invest more time in the pre-writing processes (critical reading, note-taking, brainstorming, free- writing, concept-mapping, and old-fashioned thinking.)

Methods of Organizing Your Research One of the keys to successfully utilizing your research is to maintain a strong understanding of how the research is going to be used in the paper. Your research is not simply a big block of information that you break up into smaller parts and insert into the paper in the form of quotations. As you reread your sources (and the notes that you have taken on the sources) look for overlapping/intersecting ideas and start to group the ideas into a specific sequence or hierarchy based on the thesis. These sequences/hierarchies will evolve into an outline, and you can decide where your research (and where individual sources) best fit into the argument.