All of us have experienced it at one time or another. While writing your midterm paper the night before it's due, writing a summary about a book you didn't read, or even trying to write your new Odyssey article to be published for the next week (me right now), writer's block is ever present and happens quite often. The easiest way to deal with and accept your writer's block is to know what you go through when it traps you. These are the stages, and how you know for sure, you are experiencing writers block…
- The Denial Stage. You tell yourself, I don't have writer's block! You are an amazing writer! The great idea is right in front of you. It’s an amazing idea, very interesting and witty. You reach for it!!! Sike - It wasn't there in the first place. Well, maybe another will pop up soon. *Five hours later* Okay maybe not.
- The Bribery Stage. Ah, you have made it to the “WRITING IS THE HARDEST THING EVER” stage. This is the moment that you tell yourself - okay. I'm going to write one paragraph and then I get to eat the king sized Milky Way Dad is hiding in the pantry. Ill write on more paragraph, then I get to go get Chipotle. And maybe, just maybe, if you finish by 1 am, you can binge watch "Gossip Girl" on Netflix. In reality, the goals you set for yourself usually don't get accomplished, but you get the rewards anyways.
- Pure Sadness. Now you are just in a state of depression. Who really knows how long you have been trying to finish your wonderful masterpiece. Twelve hours, two days, three days, a week… This is where you question yourself the most. Am I really a good writer? Should I continue on? What am I doing? WHY??!? How can I even be a writer if I can't actually write?
- Madness. Aka: the freak out stage. You are angry. The bitterness sets in. WHO CARES IF YOU DON'T WRITE ANYTHING. Definitely not you. You care zero percent about writing and anything that has to do with writing. Nobody reads your writing anyway! You want to do anything but write. You would rather… exercise… *gasp* You end up reading a well written article by someone else and you think to yourself “Wow. That person probably didn’t even break a sweat or lose any sleep over this amazing piece of work. I hate myself.” And then - you get even angrier. You may even think of giving up.
- The “I am a genius” Stage.This is the fifth and final stage. This is the time when that light bulb goes off in your head and you think to yourself “I AM AMAZING.” You bust out the most amazing piece of writing you have ever done and you are proud of it. You are OK. Writer's block is just another (annoying) part of life, and you are a strong independent writer that can overcome any obstacle. Until next time, writer's block.
