How to Overcome Writer's Block When You Have to Write a Paper for Class.
The dreaded writer's block happens to every writer. The blank computer screen is the most intimidating aspect of writing. Usually, writer's block happens when we immediately sit down at the computer to start writing. Overcoming the fear of the blank screen, the blank page, is the most crucial step to overcoming writer's block.
We all have had the intimidating experience of a blank screen staring back at us, begging for us to write that first sentence of a paper. We sit at our computer, anxiously tapping our foot, our fingers poised over the keyboard, our mind freezing up minute by minute when it should be filling up with ideas. But no ideas come. In fact, it seems as though everything swirls around in our head except for what we need to write. The blank screen, the blank page, is a void that we must fill with language. But the void widens, engulfing us, turning our minds into a void instead. When this happens, you should realize that the worst thing you can do when you begin a paper is to immediately sit down at the computer.
Get away from the computer.
Go somewhere else in your room, your house, a different location. The computer is a very formal place. Our mind suddenly becomes creatively constricted when we stare at the screen and the keyboard. We feel as if anything we type has to be gold when we cannot even come up with dross. We need to allow writing to be a mess at first, and save the gold for later.
Have two different workspaces.
Instead of having just the computer as your workspace, consider having two workspaces: your computer workspace, and your messy, creative workspace. In your messy, creative space, you should feel free to express yourself in loose writing, using a pen or pencil. This is a space where you can write in an unedited manner. What you write here remains private, without the scrutiny of a reader or the grading eye of a teacher. You can even write a series of expletives! The idea is to use this space to brainstorm, to write lists, to express frustration and confusion, to come up with ideas.
Alternate between your messycreative space and your formalcomputer space. As you draw together rough materiallists, feelings, outlines, researchbring some of it to the computer. When you feel stuck again, when nothing comes, do not sit paralyzed again, staring at the screen. Return to your messy, creative spot. Go back to the drawing board, so to speak.
Make up funny titles for what you are writing.
Come up with a series of various titles that describe what you are trying to write, or that make fun of or satirize your topic. Be creative. The idea is to overcome writer's block. One of the titles you come up with might very well spur your writing. If you have written some of your assignment, but you are having trouble writing different paragraphs, give each one a title, too, as if they are chapters in a book. I think one of the most damaging things we learned in school is that we must come up with a thesis statement before we start writing. It forces us to be very formal, when in fact we should start a writing assignment by being messy and creative.
If You are writing about a book, reread it.
Or at least skim through important spots. It might sound daunting, but re-reading a book you are writing about or using in your writing is one of the best ways in which to understand that book and the information in it better. When we read a book for the first time, we miss or forget much of the content. On a first reading, we read for suspense, more concerned with what comes next and how it ends than we are with the content. A second reading is always more critical and analytical. When we read a book a second time, we read for content as opposed to suspense. We know what the book is about and how it ends, so we look for what we missed, which is usually the most important material.
Break away from your writing for a day or two.
Getting distance from your writing can be one of the best things you can do. All writing needs a rest from time to time. Returning to your writing and your ideas offers you a fresh perspective. We are very intimate with our own writing. We are so close to our writing that we often become blind to that which we need to revise, elaborate upon or eliminate. Distance can, paradoxically, bring us nearer to what we want or need to express.
Bounce your ideas off someone else, or have other people read what you are working on.
The benefit of getting another ear about your work is invaluable. When we write a piece, our goal is for someone to read it, whether your reader is a professor, a subscriber to a magazine or newspaper . . . Successful writers don't have editors for no reason. Your goal is that a reader will understand and appreciate what you have written. There is not better way to reach this goal than to test-run your writing with other people. And if you are experiencing writer's block, who would be better to offer inspiration than people who might read your work?
Get away from the notion that you have to write the beginning first.
Too many students get stuck because they think they have to write the introduction first. Nothing could be more damaging. Once you have your ideas, just begin writing the body of the essay. The introduction will come later. In fact, most academic writers compose the introduction last. And, almost always, any introduction we wrote earlier will need dramatic revision once you reach the end of writing the first draft.
Anyone can overcome writer's block. It is just a matter of finding a different avenue to write, whether it is a different location to gain inspiration, or a different type of writing, no matter how messy, that can serve as inspiration or offer you material.