At the moment I cannot lie. I am EXTREMELY exhausted. It is only 7:40PM on Sunday but I have just returned from a wedding that was in Denver, Iowa this weekend. It was a lot of fun, but has taken much of my energy and as I sit here (at Capanna) pondering what inspires me to write: I got it! Experiences, events, situations, conversations and the like. For example: the wedding. An event that I lived through, enjoyed, and has also provided me with four different stories! When it is a memorable event and/or place its easy to write about because I can return to that time in my mind and pull memories, thoughts, and ideas from it. A majority of the time when I am writing I think back to past events and will reference them in my writing, depending of course if I am writing for a class or pleasure. Unfortunately, I have not written for pleasure in quite some time because for the last four years I have been dedicated to my education here at Iowa, a.k.a I feel as thought I don’t have the time. If I am writing it is because it is an assignment I have received and put all my writing power into that. I used to really enjoy writing for pleasure and as I have stated in previous blogs, writing is a stress reliever that I need to get back into.
In terms of the deadly writer’s block…
Luckily for me I don’t experience this too often but when I do I literally take a break. I walk away from the computer, get a coffee or glass of water, and let my eyes rest because chances are I have been staring at the screen trying for a long time, trying too hard and I get no where. I have discovered that in a lot of my essays and assignments when I step back from my work and then return to it later I notice mistakes or things that could be improved. If you get stuck in your writing, take a minute to breathe and reward yourself with a little nap or snack. I have learned that it’s those little things during homework time that can make all the difference and although that is extremely cheesy try my advice because you may find out that it helps!
When I work on a lengthy paper, I usually stay up into the late hours or even early hours in the morning working on it. I'll get a few ideas for every paragraph, but after I exhaust all of my ideas I usually reach a road block. I'm often amazed by how clear my head is after I take a few hours break. I think when we write it essential to take little vacations from our own thoughts, because they really become a burden and hinder us from advancing. A clear head has a lot more potential for great ideas, sometimes.
ReplyDeleteIt's so annoying that the very thing that is supposed to make us better writers (education), is what keeps us from reading or writing for fun. I just read my first "for fun" book in over a year...it was so refreshing! I've always found that taking a literal step back from my writing has always helped as well. Papers that I actually work on for weeks can turn out to be wonderful things, although procrastination can turn out wonderful papers as well, now that I think about it.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your "take a break and get a snack" comment. I remember last finals week I had to write 3 papers on top of 2 final exams, and whenever I would get writers block, I'd go eat a frosted sugar cookie. I literally lived on a diet of coffee and sugar cookies for an entire week...it was awesome!
ReplyDeletesmartbanna16 already voiced this, but I do think it's so frustrating that school, especially college, forces us to make that distinction between work and "for fun." For some reason I missed this in terms of reading, I still get a kick out of pretty much every article I read for class, just because I like to nerd out, but the same does not hold true for writing: It's such a task! But we've been trained to think of it that way. When the cycle will end, I don't know, but I hope soon.
ReplyDeleteAfter I graduated back in '97 (when we walked both ways uphill in the snow to get to school) I LOVED: a) that I didn't have homework and b) that I could read (and write) for fun again. Now I am back in school (again) and this is a tough transition back, but all the advice above is critical, take a break, get a snack, although I have learned that a good nights rest the night before is probably the #1 thing to help me keep my energy up and my mind sharp (now if it wasn't for all the darn homework...and reading...)
ReplyDeleteI really resonated with that second paragraph, especially when you talked about resting your eyes after staring at the screen for too long, trying so hard and getting nowhere. I feel like I've done a lot of that in my time as a student. And I'm right there with smartbanna and jacobm2 - as English teachers we should be passionate about reading and writing, so we need more opportunities to be indulgent in them.
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