Just as time away from writing is important, time dedicated to writing is even more important. “For my students I always start off class with a writing prompt and 20 minutes to write away,” Brown said. Planning to write a certain amount daily or dedicating a certain time for assignments steadily helps improve productivity. Prepping and preparing a station for work often helps eliminate distractions. For those not in a classroom, try having everything you need to do your work at hand, ready to go, to get the best out of your new daily writing sessions.
“Picking a direction and just writing I think helps young people get focused. The daily writing prompts allows momentum writing and it may not always be perfect,” Brown said. “One thing I had to learn is when writing, give yourself permission to write even if it’s not good. Even if you have to go back and edit, you can always edit a bad piece of writing but not a blank page.”
Brown tries to make writing enjoyable, allowing students to get creative and have fun with their writing assignments. “My goal is to teach students how to exercise their writing ability. Working through writer’s block is a necessary developing life skill,” Brown said.
At the University of Maine in Presque Isle, for students who are interested in getting extra assistance in classes, all tutoring sessions are now held online. Students can schedule appointments through https://umpi.mywconline.com or by phone and email. As the semester continues through, writer’s block and unfinished assignments stop here.
