How to tackle writer's block on college essays and papers

Question

Writer’s block is very real, and very normal. If you are feeling it now, you are not alone. Writer's block is that feeling of being stuck and unable to keep writing, or drawing a blank when trying to start writing a new paper or essay. It is the opposite of that feeling of flow when you get a really good idea and can run with it throughout the writing process until your beautiful essay or paper is complete and ready to submit.

With deadline season underway at most colleges and universities, it's important to make the writing part of essays and paper assignments as seamless as possible. If you are experiencing writer's block, remember that not knowing how to start a piece of written work is something that a lot of students (and instructors) experience.

The good news is that there are loads of strategies for tackling writer’s block. One of the most popular strategies is freewriting. Freewriting is allowing yourself to write anything and everything that you're thinking of without the added pressure of the written work being organized or free of typos. However, freewriting can be challenges when the author has not yet developed the beginning of an argument or they are unfamiliar with the subject assigned for the paper. This is why one of the easiest ways I explain to my students who are finding it difficult to put words to paper is to develop your argument while you are completing the background or assigned readings.

What does this mean? Reading is an active, not passive, process when preparing to write an argumentative essay (which most college and university essays are). The action on your part is to respond in some way, shape, or form to what you are reading before you even begin the writing process. Developing your own argument while you read is a means of engaging with the scholarship and having a conversation of sorts with the authors on the topic you are preparing to write about.

The first step in doing this is usually to identify what those authors’ arguments are. Once you have read a couple of pieces and identified the arguments, you can then compare the arguments. Do you agree with them? Which ones? Why, or why not? What other information do you need to know before you can come to a decision?

As you ask yourself these questions, be sure to write down your thoughts. These thoughts form the beginning of a first draft which you can edit later once you are on a writing roll and have forgotten that writer’s block is even a thing.

Remember that perfectionism does not exist in a first draft. A perfect final draft is the product of a messy first draft. And bear in mind that the first sentence is likely not going to end up in your final draft, but that first sentence is a necessary spark to light the fuse that fuels the final draft.

Need more writing advice for essays, big paper projects, and theses/dissertations? I have loads of experience teaching strategies such as these to students at Oxford University and would love to share them with you, too. Feel free to reach out to schedule a tutoring session.

Answer 1

Writer’s block is very real, and very normal. If you are feeling it now, you are not alone. Writer's block is that feeling of being stuck and unable to keep writing, or drawing a blank when trying to start writing a new paper or essay. It is the opposite of that feeling of flow when you get a really good idea and can run with it throughout the writing process until your beautiful essay or paper is complete and ready to submit.

With deadline season underway at most colleges and universities, it's important to make the writing part of essays and paper assignments as seamless as possible. If you are experiencing writer's block, remember that not knowing how to start a piece of written work is something that a lot of students (and instructors) experience.

The good news is that there are loads of strategies for tackling writer’s block. One of the most popular strategies is freewriting. Freewriting is allowing yourself to write anything and everything that you're thinking of without the added pressure of the written work being organized or free of typos. However, freewriting can be challenges when the author has not yet developed the beginning of an argument or they are unfamiliar with the subject assigned for the paper. This is why one of the easiest ways I explain to my students who are finding it difficult to put words to paper is to develop your argument while you are completing the background or assigned readings.

What does this mean? Reading is an active, not passive, process when preparing to write an argumentative essay (which most college and university essays are). The action on your part is to respond in some way, shape, or form to what you are reading before you even begin the writing process. Developing your own argument while you read is a means of engaging with the scholarship and having a conversation of sorts with the authors on the topic you are preparing to write about.

The first step in doing this is usually to identify what those authors’ arguments are. Once you have read a couple of pieces and identified the arguments, you can then compare the arguments. Do you agree with them? Which ones? Why, or why not? What other information do you need to know before you can come to a decision?

As you ask yourself these questions, be sure to write down your thoughts. These thoughts form the beginning of a first draft which you can edit later once you are on a writing roll and have forgotten that writer’s block is even a thing.

Remember that perfectionism does not exist in a first draft. A perfect final draft is the product of a messy first draft. And bear in mind that the first sentence is likely not going to end up in your final draft, but that first sentence is a necessary spark to light the fuse that fuels the final draft.

Need more writing advice for essays, big paper projects, and theses/dissertations? I have loads of experience teaching strategies such as these to students at Oxford University and would love to share them with you, too. Feel free to reach out to schedule a tutoring session.