Skip to main content
Humanities LibreTexts

7.4: Tips for overcoming writer's block

  • Page ID
    79086
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Just as a review of what we saw in chapter two, getting started in finding a topic, here are some tips to overcome writer’s block, no matter what mode you end up in:

    • Look at examples of modes for ideas
    • Look at the requirements of what you’re assigned (if there are requirements)
    • Look at a peer’s paper, or find an example
    • Read on the subject to joggle your brain
    • Mindmap, freewrite, brainstorm
    • Start writing something else that you know you can write on, keeping the assignment in mind, and see if this freewriting can morph into something closer to what you need to be writing.

    A final thought on modes. When you choose a mode, remember that it comes with expectations already built in the mind of the audience—they are familiar with the customs of that mode. You can exploit those audience expectations in persuading the audience.


    7.4: Tips for overcoming writer's block is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

    • Was this article helpful?