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Kate De La O

Instructor McCann

English 1301.127

27 September 2021

Coping with Writer’s Block

Perhaps the most dreaded disease to plague a writer is writer’s block. The overwhelming

feeling of being trapped, almost suffocated, as you struggle to find the right words to perfectly

express what you are trying to say. The blank page staring back, almost taunting, daring you to

write something, anything. All types of writers experience this, even those considered masters.

There are different ways writers approach to cure the dreaded writer’s block, as there are ways of

altogether avoiding the problem.

When writing, there comes a point when a writer feels like they have used up all their

words or they have not figured out the right set of words to precisely express what they think.

After all, readers only have the words of the author to base the emotion and tone of the text.

These words not only determine whether the reader will stay intrigued but also if the author

accomplishes his/her goal of moving the reader. With all this pressure, choosing words suddenly

became a lot harder. Often the best ideas, in my case, come from taking a bathroom break. Even

leaving my computer to walk or just stand in the bathroom and ponder what choice of words will

do. It is funny how just standing in the bathroom generates some of the most treasured sentences

in my work. Perhaps it is the change of environment that induces such inspiration. Activities

such as painting allow the articulation of descent sentences. While, sometimes frustratingly,

splashing paint onto a canvas, the perfect word or sentence subconsciously reveals itself. Editing

and revising sentences in my head while doing an enjoyable activity releases pressure expelled
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by my inner critic. Just as an artist may leave a piece to work for another only to come back with

a fresh set of eyes, a writer does the same for their masterpiece.

Just as these means to cure writer’s block may be the final push a writer needs, they may

also be what is holding a writer back. Procrastination is often associated with laziness and

irresponsibility to do what is demanded. When deemed with a challenge, such as writer’s block,

there is always skepticism about overcoming it, in often a specific amount of time. Writers use

excuses such as needing to eat or drink and even going as far as to find another task to tend too

as means to avoit writer’s block. Personally, the latter seems to be true when in a writer’s block

episode. Finding tasks even weeks ahead are used as excuses to avoid the frustrating struggle of

articulating the perfect sentence. Unnecessary rereading seems to be a prominent form of

procrastination. When writing in response or about another author’s work during a writer’s block

episode, sometimes finding the right words becomes overwhelming, that rereading seems like an

easier thing to do. This often leads to a circular process of procrastination, viewing the text from

different perspectives and over-analyzing the text, which in the end only produces a blank page

and confusion as to what the author was trying to express. Overcoming such procrastination

methods all comes down to the ability to identify them. What means of curing writer’s block

work and which ones are actually measures to avoid it.

Writer’s block will be around for as long as writer’s articulate rhetoric. The need for

perfection in one’s work can lead to improvement and growth, but can also lead to a trap, the

never-ending cycle in search for the “perfect” phrase. Overcoming the writer’s block malady

varies depending on individuality. Some might find the solution in a nap, others while doing a

favored activity. Identifying cures and means of preventing writer’s block is a journey every

writer must make for themselves. One can only know what works through experience.