{"id":934,"date":"2022-04-05T01:31:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T05:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/writingplace\/?post_type=chapter&p=934"},"modified":"2023-11-30T11:53:56","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T16:53:56","slug":"overcoming-writing-anxiety-and-writers-block","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/writingplace\/chapter\/overcoming-writing-anxiety-and-writers-block\/","title":{"raw":"Overcoming Writing Anxiety and Writer's Block","rendered":"Overcoming Writing Anxiety and Writer’s Block"},"content":{"raw":"\"Jellyfish<\/a>You may be thinking, \u201cOk, so all this guidance is good, but sometimes I just get stuck! What I normally do just isn\u2019t working!\u201d That\u2019s a familiar feeling for all writers. Sometimes the writing flows as if by magic, and sometimes it just stops. Cold. It\u2019s like your brain has run out of things to say. If you just wait for the magic to come back, you might wait a long time. The thing is, writing is a practice\u2014it takes consistent effort. Not everything you write will end up in the final draft. Sometimes we have to write what Anne Lamott calls a \u201cshitty rough draft.\u201d\r\n\r\nSo how do writers get going when they feel stuck or uninspired? They develop a set of habits and have more than one way to write to get the words flowing again.\r\n

Writing Anxiety<\/h2>\r\n\"\"<\/a>\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s take a moment, before we get into habits and tools to talk about anxiety. Do you worry excessively about writing assignments? Do they make you feel uneasy or agitated? Do you have negative feelings about certain types of writing? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might experience [pb_glossary id=\"1411\"]writing anxiety[\/pb_glossary]. Writing anxiety simply means that a writer is experiencing negative feelings about a given writing task. The last of the questions above points out something important: writing anxiety is often more about the audience and\/or purpose for a given writing task than it is about the act of writing itself.\r\n\r\nLet\u2019s consider this situational nature of writing anxiety for a moment. Imagine you just bought a new pair of headphones. You brought them home, removed all the packaging, listened to your favourite album, and they\u2019re amazing! So you decide to visit the company website, and you write a stellar review of the product, giving it a five-star rating and including descriptive details about the headphones\u2019 comfortable fit, excellent sound quality, ability to cancel outside noise, and reasonable price.\r\n\r\nNow, let\u2019s say that the next day in biology class your instructor covers the topic of biomes, and you learn about animal habitats and biodiversity and the interrelation and interdependence of species within biomes. You find it fascinating and can\u2019t wait to learn more. But then something terrible happens. Your instructor assigns a term project on the subject. As your instructor begins to describe the length and other specifications for the report, complete with formatting guidelines, citation requirements, and references at the end, your palms start to sweat, your stomach feels uneasy, and you have trouble focusing on anything else your instructor has to say. You\u2019re experiencing writing anxiety.\r\n\r\nWriting anxiety is the experience of feeling uneasy about writing. [pb_glossary id=\"1413\"]Writer\u2019s block[\/pb_glossary] is what you experience when you can\u2019t manage to put words on the page. But your anxiety isn\u2019t necessarily about the act of writing. Just yesterday you wrote a great review for those cool new headphones. So why do you suddenly feel paralyzed by the thought of writing the biology essay? Let\u2019s consider some possible causes.\r\n

What Causes Writing Anxiety?<\/h3>\r\nThe causes of writing anxiety are many. Here are just a few:\r\n