You’re staring at a blank screen. Your project — essay, term paper or story — awaits. And you come up with nothing, nada, not a word. It’s just you, alone with your thoughts and the empty page. Your mind wanders and you would happily wash the windows or tidy your sock drawer; anything to get away from the computer. Welcome to writer’s block, my friend. That deadly, soul-sucking paralysis that grips even the best authors.
Typically writer’s block is generated by fear. You want the piece to come out just right, to captivate the reader, to show those mythical college admissions officials you belong in their hallowed halls. Your head is filled with instructions: “find your voice,” “tell your story,” “be unique.” You think, “there is no way I can do this.” The fear of being judged can be so overwhelming, you freeze.
The good news is that you will survive. You will get the job done. Your “I will” is stronger than your “I can’t.” The question is, how long will it take you? How long will you procrastinate and put off the inevitable?
It might help to know that good writing starts with bad writing. If you give yourself the freedom to write terrible prose, you will eventually find your way to a great piece. That may sound paradoxical, but it’s true. You just need to start. Write down your rambling, disconnected ideas, and keep going. “Don’t get it right,” advised author and cartoonist James Thurber, “just get it written.”
A good writing coach can help. First by encouraging you to sift through the topics you are considering for your essay or paper. Second, a coach will ask you questions to refine your thinking, and nail down the one idea that works best for you. Don’t underestimate this step. For many students the stress starts with not knowing what to write about. When my son was struggling to begin his college essay, he jumped up from his computer, grabbed his head in his hands and yelled: “I don’t have any life experience. I’m only 17!”
Here’s some key advice from the great Mark Twain: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” Once again a writing coach can help you wrestle the essay beast and break it into bite-sized pieces. A coach might suggest creating an outline to help you marshal your thoughts.
To reduce your fear of starting, a coach will remind you that all great writing requires work. Revising, editing, starting over, and rewriting are all essential to turning out a polished, compelling story. If you’re challenged to start writing, remember you can make changes again, and again, and again. Even the celebrated Ernest Hemingway revealed he rewrote the ending of ‘A Farewell to Arms’ 39 times before he was satisfied.
A coach can be a great resource to help you through writer’s block. Who better to guide you than someone with intimate knowledge of the condition? The best coaches will draw from their own struggles with getting started to help you turn that blank page into a story.
While all manner of help is available, in the final analysis no one can write for you. This is your essay, your story. So listen up and learn from bestselling American author Barbara Kingsolver: “Close the door,” she says. “Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”