Writer’s What?

I stopped counting how many times I’ve had writer’s block since my freshman year in high school. I’m the type who overthinks about what to write and gets too concern about what my readers would think about my writing. My writer’s blocked started to trigger at its finest when I took my first Advanced Placement English class, which was AP Language, my junior year. I was new to the whole concept of a high-leveled class, mostly in English because it has been my weakest subject in school. Like mentioned by Mike Rose in “Rigid Rules…” writer’s block may be due to anxiety, insecurity, and fear of evaluation; and that’s exactly how I feel when I’m in the process of writing an essay. Also, writing I get too concentrated on what my teacher would want me to write instead of how I interpret whatever it is I need to write about. And this idea reminds me of Rick Evans’ “Learning Schooled Literacy”– the idea of writing about what our teacher wants us to write, losing our freedom to be creative, for the sake of our grade.

Throughout my junior and senior year, writing had a certain format. There was a specific way to write, or else you might as well not turn it in if you didn’t follow it. Like Ruth in “Rigid Rules…” I would take hours to write just one paragraph. Although in another hour I won’t hesitate to erase a whole paragraph if I don’t think it meets the satisfactory of my teacher. I am very well convinced that procrastination leads to writer’s block. And that’s one of the main reasons why I encounter it, but it is the most frustrating thing ever. Mostly knowing the fact that the English subject will never leave your side, writer’s block is one of the worst things that can happen in the process. When writer’s block decides to come haunt me, I take small breaks from writing to refresh my mind and relax, and find my motivation again to finish my essay. I may grab a snack for brainpower as well.

To avoid major writer’s block, plans and outlines work almost all the time, and it’s what I usually do if I need to, but mostly if I want to. I sometimes think it takes too much out of my writing time to outline. However, it takes about the same time going right at your essay without a plan with writer’s block here and there.