{"id":6447,"date":"2021-03-03T09:52:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T14:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6447"},"modified":"2025-08-13T19:46:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T23:46:48","slug":"getting-over-writers-block","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/03\/03\/getting-over-writers-block\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Over Writer’s Block"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Students everywhere are finding motivation to get us through until the end of the semester. Getting back into the swing of things is a must, with upcoming assignments due. These moments are crucial to starting the semester off correctly. But unfortunately writer\u2019s block can prevent us from starting essays and creating stories. Those affected with writer’s block have been left in the slumps as assignments endlessly pile up with no hope of ending clear until May.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe need for perfection always kept me from finishing assignments. So, I do think that\u2019s a factor as well as getting inspiration or motivated to start assignments,\u201d TJ Brown, an English and writing lab instructor at Stearns High School, said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Brown spends study halls and class time encouraging all his students to write. \u201cWhen one does have a case of writer’s block, I think there are many different things that people can do for it,\u201d Brown said.\u00a0He wants students everywhere to know, \u201cIf you feel like you need to, you should walk away from the assignment or essay, but don\u2019t give up on it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Take some time away from assignments to find inspiration elsewhere. Time can refresh the mind. \u201cWhether you spend four minutes to listen to a song or a few hours to go somewhere, sometimes time itself is all that is needed and sometimes it is not,\u201d Brown said. When the few hours away from the books doesn\u2019t do the trick, don\u2019t give up. \u201cMy favorite time to write is right after waking up. Starting fresh in the morning with a cup of coffee, or after a nap, is a productive time I\u2019ve set aside for writing,\u201d Brown said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Just as time away from writing is important, time dedicated to writing is even more important. \u201cFor my students I always start off class with a writing prompt and 20 minutes to write away,\u201d Brown said. Planning to write a certain amount daily or dedicating a certain time for assignments steadily helps improve productivity.\u00a0 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPicking 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,\u201d Brown said. \u201cOne thing I had to learn is when writing, give yourself permission to write even if it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Brown tries to make writing enjoyable, allowing students to get creative and have fun with their writing assignments. \u201cMy goal is to teach students how to exercise their writing ability. Working through writer’s block is a necessary developing life skill,\u201d Brown said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At 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 <\/span>https:\/\/umpi.mywconline.com<\/span><\/a> or by phone and email.\u00a0 As the semester continues through, writer\u2019s block and unfinished assignments stop here.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Students everywhere are finding motivation to get us through until the end of the semester. Getting back into the swing of things is a must, with upcoming assignments due. These moments are crucial to starting the semester off correctly. But unfortunately writer\u2019s block can prevent us from starting essays and creating stories. Those affected with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6447"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8318,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6447\/revisions\/8318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}