Commentary by Jalen Cole

Nov. 17, 2015

Don’t you just hate when you’re writing a paper and you get stuck on a sentence? This can be caused by two things: One, you didn’t prepare properly before writing the paper, or, two, there’s a thought in your head that you can’t put into words. If you’re in a major that involves writing, this is nothing new to you.

This happens to everyone at some point in time, and trust me, it is the most frustrating thing a writer can go through. I am a victim of writer’s block; most of the time it happens to me when I have a lot of thoughts in my head, but can’t seem to put them on paper.

For example, if you’re writing at least three papers a week, it’s going to be difficult to have all those thoughts and ideas in your head and write them down, but there are certain strategies you should use to assure that you won’t get stuck when writing papers.

The first thing you should do is prewrite. Try to brainstorm ideas about the subject you are writing about; there’s nothing better than knowing what you are going to say before you start writing.

The second thing is to tune out things around you and focus on the paper. We all tend to get distracted with other things around us, whether it’s TV or your cell phone. In order to get all those thoughts on the paper you have to stay focused, and tuning out the distractions would help.

The next thing is to look over the writing assignment to get a better idea of what you’re writing about. Figure out what direction you want your paper to go in. To avoid getting off topic, it’s always good to look over your writing assignments a couple of times if you get stuck while writing.

The next best thing to do if you’re experiencing writer’s block is drop everything and come back later. Sometimes you need to take a break to come up with new ideas for your paper.

The last thing is to talk to a friend. Talking to a friend about the subject can really benefit your paper. Asking a friend is very helpful because there could be something you’re not thinking about that your friend may be.

Getting over writer’s block is tough if you don’t have the desire to be good at writing. You shouldn’t be discouraged; the best writers in the world experience it. You have to keep writing and keep coming up with ideas as best as you can. There’s really not a specific way to avoid writer’s block, but these are a few ideas that might get you out of that slump.