As someone who writes a lot academically – English and philosophy major here – and creatively, one of my biggest challenges is overcoming writer’s block. Here are a few, perhaps less conventional ways, to beat the block.
1. End at the start – start at the end.
A lot of writers, story writers specifically, have the notion that you have to write your plot chronologically with an “attention grabbing” intro, rising action, climax, falling action and a lovely little denouement. If you’ve ever read a postmodern novel or postmodern literature, you know that they rarely start at the beginning – or at least not the whole thing. (See: "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and other greats.) It's definitely worth a shot if you're in a jam, though I wouldn't recommend this for academic writing.
2. Get to the point.
Academic essay writing can be super "gouge-your-eyes-out" tedious but really rewarding if you come up with a strategy. After completing a heavily writing based course this semester, my thought process has really changed and, as a result, I have become a better writer – even if I cried once or twice a week. Tears are just a result of sweaty eyes. In any essay, you really need to answer the questions: So what? Why am I reading this essay? Why do I care? Professors are people, too, and they don't want to be bored to tears while they read their 14th paper on why Jane Austen totally rocks their students' socks off. I've gotten into a habit of drawing up a quick outline before I start any major paper and it only has the following questions on it:
What am I trying to say about the given topic?
Can I divide this into three general categories?
How am I going to explain these three things?
3. Words are fun.
I definitely stole this trick from my 10th grade creative writing teacher, but it's a pretty good idea. A simple Google query can change your life for the better with this one – promise. You can search "random word generator" or you can click the link I'll be so kind to leave here. There's even a full random sentence generator on the same website. Some of them are really out there, but after generating a few gems such as "She did her best to help him," "We had never visited Asia, nor had we visited Africa," and "I recently combined maple syrup and buttered popcorn, thinking it would make caramel popcorn," I think it's worth a try, for sure. That link is here. Again, another technique that only works for creative writing – but worth trying. Even if you don't come across a sentence that inspires you to write, maybe you'll laugh and be put in a better writing mood! You could either take a single word and write a piece on the word or use the randomly generated sentence as your first one, then write a piece explaining that sentence.
Disclaimer: Please do not start your academic papers with random words or sentences that are entirely unrelated to your topic.
4. The madness behind the madness.
Best-selling author, Jeff Goins suggests a super, well, physical solution, but I kind of think it's worth exploring. In his article "Get Rid of Writer's Block Once and For All," Goins instructs followers of his blog to literally type nonsense. Classic keyboard smash. Why does this work? Goins says that this normally works for him, in helping his fingers decide which direction to move. While I don't know if I've achieved this level of abstraction, I do agree with a later point that Goins made: "It’s the blank page with which we are at battle, the empty canvas with which we wage war." Seeing a blank page can be a bit overwhelming, or perhaps even intimidating, so don't be afraid to start out with a bit of gibberish. You can always go back and delete it, but it helps to take the edge off. Jeff Goins has published a lot of blog entries and articles on eradicating your writer's block, so his work is worth a read.
5. Don't be afraid to write something awful.
Seriously, don't. Oftentimes, we writers feel the need for the first draft to be the only draft – especially when in a rush. But when time is a luxury, I beg you to enter a meditative head space the next time you want to write. Be it for leisure, necessity or something else in between, your writing is worth being subjected to a process. Whether it takes one draft or fifty, a draft is better than nothing. For all of my fellow perfectionists out there, you can always refine a draft – but you can't make any edits on a blank page. Remember: even J.K. Rowling started off with a blank page.
Happy writing!
