The continuous and constant struggle of putting pen to paper – finger to key
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War
We’ve all been there. When the clock is ticking down, and the due date for your assignment is lingering – suspended above you like a dark, grey, cloud of anxiety, sweat, pretzels, and uncertainty.
You sit at your computer – turning on some ambient electro, or maybe some Simon & Garfunkel (my personal go-to study music), and as you open your Microsoft Word document you find that it is blank and empty – much like your soul after exams. The rhythmic ticking of the cursor feels like it is mocking you, urging you to input some words onto the blank canvas as you sit, lip-syncing to “Mrs.Robinson.” The melodic pulses of the cursor remind you of your due dates and your impending all-nighter.
You have your favorite drink beside you, your favorite socks on your feet, and your favorite music all together at once – the environment is ideal and perfect. No more distractions are possible – everything is the way you want it to be. But why, then, can’t you write anything? Why are you blankly staring at your screen waiting for something magical to happen?
There are a variety of misconceptions surrounding writer’s block, and in this article, I’ll aim to fill that emptiness – much like the emptiness of your Word document.
The most crucial mistake people make when facing writer’s block involves attitude and perspective. Your mindset and your demeanor are crucial components of preparing to wage war against writer’s block. Naturally, these notions are heavily tied to patience and frustration.
Why patience? Isn’t patience supposed to be a good thing? Well, not only is the clock ticking on your assignment, but, waiting and being patient will ultimately be your downfall. Writer’s block is cruel and unrelenting – it wants you to fail. It wants you to sit patiently and not write a single word, while constantly refreshing the front page of Reddit. It wants you to clean the entire house and “procrasti-clean.” It wants you to “procrasti-cook” your dinner from stratch, or “procrasti-call” your parents to see how they are doing (which you should be doing regularly). Writer’s block is gritty; it plays dirty – it strikes at the most opportune times.
Waiting for ideal conditions or circumstances to begin writing is the most common trap that writers fall into. You would be surprised how often you can catch yourself doing this. If you often tell yourself, “I’ll start writing after I get coffee,” or “I need to go to Planet Bean before I begin my essay,” then you may have a procrastination problem.
To avoid this trap, try not to get caught up in finding the perfect conditions for writing. The truth is – those conditions don’t exist. When you write, you are fighting a vicious battle – and you don’t get to choose the battlefield. Regardless of where and when you write, the most important thing is that you actually write something. If you wait patiently for creative inspiration, you will quickly realize that inspiration has deserted you on the front lines, and has retreated from battle.
When you write, you are fighting a vicious battle – and you don’t get to choose the battlefield…
To quote the great Childish Gambino, “[I] got no patience, cause I’m not a doctor.” Having patience and waiting for inspiration to come to you is clearly not an effective way to deal with writer’s block. My seemingly deep and overly philosophical advice to you is this: endure.
Embrace the frustration, instead of the patience.
As anyone who has tried their hand at writing knows – whether creatively or academically – it is nearly impossible to fully articulate your precise meaning, and it is incredibly difficult to communicate your ideas to others as they appear in your head. This is extremely frustrating, in every sense of the term. Writing is a long and tedious process, and the only way for you to get through it with persistence and vigour. Do not be discouraged by frustration. If you can write down anything on your page, you are on the right track.
That being said, one of the keys to combating writer’s block is building a steady writing habit. You can’t expect to return from Winter break, not having written anything for two weeks, and perfectly articulate all of your ideas onto paper. The process of writing should take a long time, and, much like a muscle that needs to be flexed, the ability to write can be improved through repetition and determination.
When writing an essay or assignment, it is crucial to set realistic goals for yourself. Instead of sitting down and writing your paper all at once, divide your workload into manageable portions. For example, set a goal to spend 15 minutes to research your topic. That’s it. One simple goal at a time. Once you have accomplished this small task, you are that much closer to completing your paper. As you continue to create smaller and more attainable goals, your assignment will come together piece-by-piece and become less daunting.
Reading this article, you may begin to notice some of the mistakes you commonly make as a writer. Good. As a writer, you should be making mistakes constantly. What will propel you to the next level, academically or creatively, is not the quality of your work, but the habits that you cultivate. If you begin organizing your tasks and assignments into smaller, more attainable goals, then you are one step closer to establishing a strong foundation for effective writing.