What causes writers block?

Answer 1

Writer’s block, the onset of an inability to write, is for most people a temporary thing, like being lost for words at a particular moment. Sometime it’s because of pressure—for instance, the pressure of a looming deadline for a paper, or writing under exam conditions. Sometimes writer’s block has an immediate practical cause in that you know you have to write, but you don’t know what to write about. That’s exceedingly common, and there are a number of things you can do to help break out of it.

Have you looked back at the reading assigned in the context of the paper topic? Go look at it again, with the paper assignment or prompt near at hand so you can look for ideas. Don’t look for the “one single perfect idea,” look for potential broad topics.

Once you have a potential topic, try some prewriting activities like brainstorming or free writing to see how you can effectively narrow your broad topic to something specific and manageable. Free writing, that is just writing everything that comes into your mind when you think about your topic without stopping to edit or correct, is often especially helpful to encourage your ideas and your writing to flow.

If you’re nervous about writing, before you are even trying to write, go do something else for an hour or so, like taking a walk, or listening to music. Consider contacting some of your classmates and suggest a writing session where you can brainstorm the paper assignment, talk about the readings, and help each other craft a list of topics for your individual papers.

If you start working on a writing assignment as soon as you get it, you’re far less likely to find yourself staring at a blank screen the night before the paper is due. Ask your instructor if she would be willing to talk about possible ideas, or look at an outline or rough draft. Think about proposing a writing group to your classmates. You can use peer review to read and comment on each others papers and improve your papers based on feedback from classmates.

Answer 2

Writer's block can be caused by a variety of factors such as stress, fear of failure, lack of inspiration, or perfectionism. It can also result from physical factors like fatigue or lack of concentration. Overcoming writer's block may involve taking a break, changing your environment, or trying new writing techniques to stimulate creativity.

Answer 3

The pressure to perform in an unatural way can be enormous, and writing for many people is an unnatural act, or can seem to be. Usually this results in writer's block, the sense that, "I don't know what to write about." Writer's block affects most people who have to produce some sort of written communication at some time. Professional writers deal with it in a variety of ways. I heard once that Nathaniel Hawthorn wrote letters for fours hours every day before he began writing. An English writer, I can't recall at this time which, did the same. The fact is that the surest solution to writer's block is to get writing. People get obstructed in an attempt to break it by the thought that if they can't write something good, then they can't write at all. Not true. To break through it, just get words on paper. Not all of it will be golden, but you might find that some of the garbage that is produced might contain specks of gold. Writing is not an unnatural act. It is an integral part of human nature. Writing is a concrete extension of the spoken word, and the spoken word is how we interact. Interaction among humans is a necessity, it is critical to our survival. So, to lose the fear of writing that is part of what might cause writer's block goes a long way toward eliminating the block. The best way to face a fear? Do just that, face it, challenge it, scream in its face. Just put words on paper.

Answer 4

writer's block is the point that you can no longer follow the trail of your thoughts