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The 7 Stages Of Writer's Block

It's the pits.

Lauren Wester
Sep 07, 2016
Jacksonville State University
11
The 7 Stages Of Writer's Block
welcome2thewritersbloc

As I'm sitting here writing this, I'm experiencing a terrible case of writer's block. We've all been through this, whether it's for a school assignment, work, or our own personal writing. It's the pits. You try and try for what feels like forever to just come up with one decent sentence to at least get the ball rolling, and you can't even do that. They say to write what you know, write from your experiences. Well that's what I'm doing here. I'm experiencing writer's block (and do quite often, actually), and I'm going to tell you what it's like.

1. Optimism

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You sit down, open your laptop (or notebook, whatever), and get ready to start your next writing adventure. No big deal. Easy peasy. You've done it a million times before.

2. Unease

The cursor keeps blinking at you... and blinking... and blinking. But... where are the words? Why aren't they coming? It's fine. Just give it a minute. They'll come.

3. 30 minutes later...

WHERE ARE THE WORDS?! Brain, why are you not working?? Just. Do. It. Put one letter after another and make a word. Any word.

4. Break time

Your vision is starting to blur from staring at the empty screen/page for so long, so you take a break. Make some coffee, get a snack, stretch - do something to get your blood flowing and hopefully kick start your brain.

5. Research

When all else fails, if you're writing an article hit up social media or other news sources and figure out what's going on in the world. Maybe you have a different opinion or perspective on something. Or if you're writing for school, try and find other papers on the subject you're writing on. JUST DON'T PLAGIARIZE.

6. Try again

Now that you've spent most of your research time stalking people on social media, it's time to crack down. Get serious and... is that your phone ringing??

7. 1 hour later...

Just give up and go to bed. You gave it a valiant effort. It may only be two in the afternoon but you deserve a nap after all that non-work you just did.

I wish I knew the cure for this annoying mind block, but I don't. I don't think anybody does, really. People have written articles on how to overcome it, but each person is different. What works for one person might not work for you. Try different things until you stumble upon something that works for you. And if all else fails, just go to bed and try again tomorrow.


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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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