Beating the Block: tips for overcoming writer’s block
By: Christopher Bronke
Tags: Writers On Writing, Writers Block, Writing, Teaching, Education

The dreaded blinking cursor. It stares at you, mocking you relentlessly, and unlike you, it doesn’t tire, relent, or need a break. It just keeps taunting you. And then it happens, a glimmer of hope as you feverishly pound the keys, aggressively attempting to articulate what has been swirling around in your mind for hours now — only to delete it just as rapidly, losing to the evil blinking cursor once again.

Anyone who has had a writing deadline, be it for high school, college, grad school, a writing contract, or anything else, has experienced this seemingly never-winnable battle. And we have all looked back, at some point or another, with great pride in our ability to defeat this electronic monster.

The reality is simple: as long as writing and writing deadlines are real factors in life, we will all face writer’s block; however, there are tangible steps we can take to help us, as teacher-writers, and as writing teachers (to help our students) overcome or better navigate writer’s block.

1. Push away the computer and TALK to someone.

This doesn’t have to be some sort of therapy session in which you lie down on a couch and pour out your feelings, but sometimes the best way to overcome writer’s block is to stop trying to write. I have found that my biggest type of writer’s block is when I am not fully sure what I want to say or where I want to take a specific piece. When I find myself in this place, staring at a computer almost never helps me move forward.

Sometimes talking to someone else is the best way to get out of your writer’s block.

This is when I will find a fellow teacher, a student, an administrator, or ever someone who isn’t in the educational field, and I will say to them, “I am stuck with a piece of writing; can I tell you what I am thinking and can you ask me lots of questions about what you hear?” This technique can be very powerful, and if we use it with our students, it also helps train them to ask good questions and to take a different sort of feedback.

2. Look for metaphors to guide your thinking and writing.

One of my favorite pieces I ever wrote was about all the ways education could be more like Vegas. This idea came to me after one of my worst battles with writer’s block. As a means to try to get out of this rut, I started thinking about metaphors for the work I/we do. As people, we think in comparisons; we know and experience certain moments because we can compare the present to the past. So, when you or your students are struggling to get started or even to think of a topic on which you could get started, look for metaphors; they are all around us.

Thinking of metaphors can break the block.

Want a fun writing activity for class? Force your students to write extended metaphors as a warm-up or brainstorming activity. For example, ask them to write about how your class is like a World Cup soccer match (that one came to me as I was, obviously, watching a WC Soccer match.). Whatever the pairing, metaphors are how we inherently think and can quickly help us out of writer’s block.

3. Change mediums — it changes how you think.

My biggest educational writing mentors (whether they know it or not), people like Penny Kittle, Kristin Ziemke, Tom Romano, all believe passionately in the power of a pen and paper writer’s notebook, and while I so deeply admire them, this is one of their beliefs that just doesn’t work for me, and that is okay. However, when I am stuck writing any particular piece, one thing I will do is push the computer aside and move to paper and pencil.

Changing from paper to computer is one way to get the words flowing.

I don’t always start actually writing the piece, but I sketch out key ideas, possible subsections for the piece, draft important phrases or claim-type sentences and draw lots of lines and arrows connecting different parts to one another. This change in medium forces me to change my thinking, and often times, that frees up my mind to new ideas to get the piece going. So, when you or your students get stuck, try changing mediums — if you usually draft on the computer, get a piece of paper, and if you usually draft on paper, try moving to a computer. Often times a mere 10 minutes or so in a different medium can open up endless new ideas.

4. Listen to or change what music you are listening to.

One of my favorite writing activities I like to do in class is to have students do a free write. The first minute or two, I have no music playing. And then, I will turn on something like a prelude from Chopin and let it go for a few minutes. Then I will change to something classical that is super cacophonous (like so wild that I have to google search to find it), and from there I will put on a nice piece of jazz from Coltrane.

Turning on and/or changing your music can lead to great writing.

And we keep doing this for about 10–15 minutes. Afterward, students pair up and analyze their writing to see where the music may have impacted where their mind and writing went. Of course, this activity impacts different students in different ways, but the core of it holds true: music impacts us deeply. So, if you have music on and are stuck, change the music to something vastly different. If you don’t have music on, turn something on and see where it takes you.

5. Alter your physical situation.

Where we are physically and how we are situated within that physical space can greatly impact our productivity and ability to defeat the blinking cursor. Typically, I write sitting down in my office chair at my desk, but the first move that I make when I hit a bit of writer’s block, is to stand up and transition over to my standing desk.

Changing your physical space can get the ideas going.

Sometimes, the simple change of sitting versus standing can make an impact. If that doesn’t work, I will change the actual physical space — try the library, or the local coffee shop, or the local winery (my new favorite — **disclaimer: I do not recommend this for my students nor should you), or any other space that is different. One of my favorites is just simply changing from inside to outside; this is also one that students really enjoy, too. So, if you are struggling to get started or to continue with a piece, try changing your physical situation.

I truly hope that these suggestions help you overcome your (or your students’) writer’s block, but the key is, no matter what you try, be it one of these tips or something totally different, don’t give up! You got this; just keep writing!!!