Say you find yourself in a delicate nook on a quaint Tuesday afternoon. You’ve dented two pages into a 10-page essay that’s due on Friday. Rad! Your temperament is calm as you meander your way through this boring discourse when suddenly the light bulb in your brain dies.

You’ve blanked at the worst time, and naturally you’re panicking. Well, sir/madam, you can stop flailing around because I have a plan to turn you from an anxious, uncomfortably sweaty flibbertigibbet into a grade-A, reasonably sweaty writer who smells above average!

If you've experienced this before, you know how laborious it might seem to crawl out of the writer's block trench (also know as Satan).

Writer’s block is an affliction that derails a train of thought. While writing, it’s the halting, screeching stop of your creative juices that makes you feel like you’re walking through mud to conjure up words that are both impressive and relevant.

For most, writer’s block usually brings on an overwhelming sense of despair as the walls of pressure to write more substance close in on them. In short, the average student is now screaming and whining more than usual, and nobody likes that.

Luckily for you, I’ve broken down an insightful and logical battle plan to get over this funk whether you’re stuck on an academic paper or a colorful narrative.

1.Take a step back.

This is happening. This is real. You have to be comfortable with it because frustration will only make matters worse. Think of writer’s block as a natural breath of fresh air, which your brain will take whether you like it or not. And, since it’s happening, look at it as an opportunity to take a break from everything.

Take your mind off of whatever you’re writing about with a change of scenery. Go outside, look at the stars, take a walk. If you haven’t eaten much prior to your block, you should try and get a snack in your system. Likewise, always make sure to stay well hydrated. What’s most important about this step is that you must come back to the paper or it's all for naught.

2. If it’s late, and you’re too tired, GO TO SLEEP.

There’s a reason the phrase “I’ll sleep on it” exists.

TED-Ed put out a wonderful video on why we dream. In the lesson, an experiment done in 2010 is mentioned that explored the effect dreaming has on mental tasks, which, in this case, was successfully navigating through a 3-D maze.

The study found that in the second attempt at the maze, those that napped prior and dreamt of the maze performed up to 10 times better than both those that napped and didn’t dream and the group who stayed awake thinking about the maze between attempts.

“Researchers theorize that certain memory processes can happen only when we are asleep, and our dreams are a signal that these processes are taking place.”

Face the music and hit the hay. If you so choose to proceed unrested, may the odds be ever in your favor.

3. Retrace your steps. Consider what’s already been said that leads up to this point.

I like to think of this as following the metaphorical breadcrumbs home. Find the root cause of the paper or piece you’re writing, and see how you got to where you left off. If you have nothing substantial yet, change your mindset to something more simplistic.

You don’t have to be Charles Dickens here. Make foundational points, talk about them in your paper as if they’re fact, and then decorate them after you’ve tested their validity. If you can, look back and see which points need more support -- it’s very helpful in editing and knowing where to go from there.

4. Lists make everything better.

For an analytical mind like mine, outlines always have appealed to me because of their linear organization.

Whether you have nothing written, or half of your paper written, plot what you want to say. I recommend doing this with an actual pen and paper because, personally, the tangible medium eases my anxiety of not having control of the crisis. A battle plan for continuing an essay or story’s plot creates the backbone for your stream of consciousness.

Here are the big pros: It’s easy to refer back to, it can change if need be, and it easily translates to writing out your thoughts well. (See what I did there?)

5. Once you’ve cleared your mind, looked at the bigger picture, and applied more antiperspirant, an effective technique is to "freewrite."

Though it might seem extremely uncomfortable, a freewrite is writing at a brisk pace whatever comes to your head while trying to further your topic, whether it’s relevant or not.

I usually freewrite for 10-12 minutes. To begin, you might start at five to seven minutes, and progressively increase the duration. In that time, I write down literally everything that I’m thinking, even if it’s “Oh, God, what am I doing with my life?” and then an internal dialogue ensues.

The point is to materialize your stream of consciousness, and NOT TO STOP until that 10-12 minutes is up.

Once you’ve taken your alphabet soup out of the microwave oven, my favorite part happens: editing it so that it’s relevant to your paper again. I can assure you that the process might sound mad, but after a minute of writing things around the topic of my paper, the floodgates burst open with all kinds of opinions, things I remembered from class, and lots of choice words I wouldn’t say in front of my granny.

You simply force yourself to write without concern over the gravity of your words. In the case that none of this has worked, wasn’t insightful for you, and you’re still comparable to an inflatable arm-flailing tube-man that attracts 16-year-olds and their parents to car dealerships, I suggest:

6. Have someone whom you know is a better -- or just as skilled -- writer take a look, and hear what they have to say.

I absolutely believe that we, as social beings, sharpen each other’s minds. A second pair of eyes is a valuable tool if you’ve done everything you can on your own to get through your block to no avail.

Even if you’ve conquered what I consider Hell on Earth, a fresh perspective is still imperative before you submit any form of your writing. Though it’s an easy way out of doing work on your own, keep in mind that your peers won’t always have all the answers to what could be sheer lethargy.

Just as well, if someone asks you to proofread their paper, this is huge compliment to your intelligence. As a courtesy, I am always extremely thorough, never let any mistakes by, and I’m as quick as I can while remaining efficient.

As a sending thought: remember you’re never alone with the struggle of writer’s block, and that with true consideration to what you’re doing, you can put it to rest.

Hug your friends, remind them that the semester is almost over and that soon they won’t have to restrict their sleep schedules to bend to any teacher’s whim for months.