Essay Online

Many of my students shrug their shoulders at the beginning of the semester when I tell them that time is their best friend. Just like my students, too many writers struggle with their writing because they treat time as a four letter word. However time is not the enemy if you learn to use it wisely. Time can be a tremendous help when you write if you plan ahead. Making a wise use of your time is a three-step process.

First, allow yourself enough time to live with the idea you plan to write about. Do not write. Give yourself permission to jot down notes but it is wisest to simply make these hard copy (or handwritten) notes. You want to give your muse, your subconscious mind, your brain, or whatever part of you that does your heavy lifting when it comes to writing, time to work. During this time just go about your normal life and work on other tasks, writing and otherwise. There is no need to schedule time to simply think about your future writing task. It is going on whether or not you pay attention to it. However every day you can give yourself for this process will save you much time, energy, and agony later on. Trust me. I have been there and I know whereof I speak.

Second, once you have given your brain some time to work out your rough draft (or at least the bones of it) then it is time to start writing. However before you start writing you should work out a schedule for yourself. Set goals and limitations and then stick to them. Perhaps you will write for a set amount of time or you might rather set a certain page count for your goal. Some days it will be a struggle to meet your goal and other days it will be almost painful to stop when you have met your quota, but over time your brain and writing muscles will become accustomed to the goal and the writing will come easier and faster.

Third, and this is where you need to pull out your calendar, you need to plan your schedule so you have plenty of time for that initial period of thought, a workable writing schedule, and time for drafts as well as time for breaks between drafts. Writing and revising through multiple drafts is one of the essentials to improving your writing product but if you do not allow sufficient time between those drafts then you might as well not bother with drafts at all. You need to give your brain time to rest and you need to allow yourself some distance from the initial creation.

Time is a writer’s best friend but only if you plan ahead sufficiently to allow time to live with your writing idea, plan a workable schedule, and give yourself time off between drafts. Pulling out your calendar and planning out a writing schedule can be the single biggest step you take to improve your writing.

Writers block is one of those mysterious ailments that is blamed for late assignments, missed deadlines, and failed dreams. Some people claim it is merely a myth while others find it plagues their writing.

As someone with more than two decades of professional writing, editing and teaching experience I feel quite strongly that in 99.9 percent of reported cases of writers block are nothing more than a chimera. In my opinion, far too many would-be writers spend far too much time and energy on finding the right computer, program, paper, pen, location, mood-setting music, and the like before they can begin writing when that time and energy would be much better spent on simply getting down to the business of writing. These would-be writers treat their muse as something delicate and breakable, something as elusive and fleeting as smoke.

I know from years spent in the hurly-burly of newspaper reporting and snatching moments to write between deadlines and dinner dishes that a muse worth keeping is made of much tougher material and in fact may benefit from some abuse.

Most often writers block, or what is commonly referred to as writers block, is caused by one of three problems–lack of preparation, lack of training, and lack of development. Lack of preparation is often caused by not creating an individual writing process that can take advantage of your writing strengths and help overcome your writing weaknesses. Lack of training is similar to athletic training–you need to warm up and work out on a regular schedule to keep your writing muscles in top condition. Lack of development simply means that your particular idea may need more time to percolate or perhaps you are not ready to tackle that particular topic at the time.

I have three recommendations to help you work through writers block. First is to simply write through it. Give yourself permission to write garbage and focus on simply creating a really rough draft. Often once you stop worrying over all that is wrong with your writing the words will begin flowing again.

A second method of dealing with writers block is to get moving. Take a walk or hike. Do something physical away from your office or desk and do not let yourself return to the scene of the crime (or writers block) until several hours have passed. You might be surprised what your brain works out in the interim.

Finally, exercise and challenge your writing muscles with writing prompts and exercises. Sometimes simply changing the pace of your writing or your subject matter can be enough to help you work through your difficulty.

Remember, every writer experiences some form of writers block from time to time but you do not have to make a mountain out of a molehill. Working out an effective strategy to circumvent writers block when it strikes is one of the most important skills a real writer can develop.