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Topic: Dealing with Writer's Block
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 11-18-2004 10:52 PM
Mike, how much of the paper do you have finished? If you haven't done much work on it at this point, I would strongly suggest the tried and true approach of outlining it.
I kind of like the method of writing separate points, events, etc. down on notecards and organizing them on a bulletin board. I can move them around and see the structure of the story, from beginning to middle to end. In playing with the structure, it may help you arrive at a more interesting angle in which to approach the subject. The notecards can also help keep track of all those damned sources and other crap for all those footnotes. Arrgh.
Writers block can still be hell, especially with non-fiction, historical events. It took my father over 3 years to finish his new book (about the fall of Saigon). There were so many different people he interviewed and so many developments to keep organized that it constantly threatened to turn the book into mud. Sometimes he just had to take a break from the project for a few days and come back to it later with a fresh perspective.
In doing graphic arts work everyday, there are times where I run into creative brain lock. You're going along well and then just sort of jog right into a bunch of molasses. Usually I'll jump over to another project or two and knock them out quickly and bring back a better sense of creative momentum and use that to try to slam through the problem.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 11-19-2004 05:24 AM
Having just finished a 120k word book last month, I know exactly how you feel. There's no magic answer - it's just really a case of working out what works for you. Pretty much everyone in the academic world I know says the same thing: that the research bit is great (getting out of the office, finding stuff that no-one else has or interpreting it differently, discussing the work at conferences while doing some serious drinking at the same time), it's the writing up that's the bastard. I've found that the things which work for me by trial and error are:
1. Have a clear sense of what it is you're trying to say. So, for example, you might be arguing that Social Darwinism and Imperialism was the key issue in the outcome of the Spanish American War, or that it was totally irrelevant, or (which I guess will be the most likely) something in between. A corny, though very true, tip for writing essays and papers is: 'say what you're going to say, say it, then say that you've said it'. If you look at many leader articles in broadsheet newspapers (for examples), you'll find that they use just this trick.
2. Start by roughing out an outline structure (with approximate word lengths for each section), but don't be afraid to change it later on once the writing is underway if it doesn't work for you. But if you're working to a word limit, remember that adding words somewhere means taking them away from somewhere else.
3. Get your citations together while you're doing the research. If you find a good quote, or source for factual information or opinion, stick a footnote (or Harvard-style in text reference if you prefer) in an empty Word Document; even if you think at the time that the odds are you're not going to use it. Thanks to Word's footnote and endnote handling you can always move it or delete it later if you don't need it, but it will take a lot longer if, a few weeks later, you think 'now where did I read this?!') and have to go looking for it again. I've wasted HOURS falling into that trap.
4. Then, finally, write the actual text. With all the framework you should by now have, it won't be anywhere near as difficult as if you're starting with a cold, blank page. Even then, I often came across times when I simply couldn't find the right way to put an idea, or argument, or to explain lots of dense information down, in which case it's probably best to turn off the PC and go do something else for a while. For the hard core writing part 2-3 hours is about the limit of my concentration, and on a good day I can do 1,500 to 2,000 words in one of these sessions.
5. Finally, get someone else to read your piece when you've finished it - ideally someone who knows nothing and cares nothing about the subject. If it doesn't make sense, or you haven't made the link clear between one argument and the next, or there are simply some typos you haven't spotted - a fresh pair of eyes will have a much better chance of picking up glitches.
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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene
Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 11-19-2004 11:41 PM
I hate papers like this. However its quite easy. First of all you need to have an actual opinion about the subject at hand. Then pretend you are actually speaking your opinion on the subject. Speak to yourself as you type. It's like your own personal lecture.
I have been known to finish much longer pieces in just a few hours, and most of it is nothing but me pining on about something or other, but it comes out well.
I once wrote a 20 page report on how plastic is a better choice than paper when choosing what to put your groceries in at the store. I sold my professor, a raging leftist environmentalist, and I recieved an A on the paper. She had no idea that anyone could be so empassioned about plastic!!!
So yeah, I have always felt that a block comes from a lack of personal interest in the subject. You need to take a side, love it, hate the other, and go with the feeling as you type.
Well that's how I would do it.
In this case, I would probably jump out of my window, as I know nothing of the subject at hand. Of course I live in the basement apartment so jumping out the window would be a step up in life, so I am no example to follow for damn sure!
So don't listen to me, I am an idiot!
Ciao baby
Dave
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 11-20-2004 07:43 AM
quote: Dave Williams
So yeah, I have always felt that a block comes from a lack of personal interest in the subject.
My problem has usually been the other way round - being so interested in a subject that what I end up writing about it loses focus and direction, or assumes too much prior knowledge on the part of the reader, or does not deal with opposing viewpoints to mine as fully and fairly as it should do. In many ways, not being interested makes the job simpler: identify issues, research background, gather evidence, form your argument, map out structure of paper, write the bugger, job done. If you're emotionally involved all of these stages become more difficult, because you're constantly having to step back and take a look at what you're doing.
Example: at the moment I'm in the middle of writing a funding application for a project to carry out preservation work on some of our master videotape holdings. This has to set out the proposed methodology for the work (e.g. maintaining original format capability and preserving original media vs. a CFM programme) and justify it. Because I don't like video very much and would much rather be dealing with films, I found it a reasonably straightforward process to read up on the work that's been done in this area, pull out the lessons to be learnt for our sitation specifically and then set out what we're proposing to do, why, and how much it'll cost. If, however, the project was preserving nitrate films rather than 1970s videotapes, my own ideas on what I'd like to do with them are so strong and personally felt that they would get in the way of my being able to sensibly evaluate the alternatives.
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What I do is just start writing down (actually typing into a Word document) any thoughts I have on the subject. Doesn't matter what, just type them in. Order doesn't matter either (yet), just type them in. Same thing for facts to be stated and citations. Eventually some sort of structure for the paper starts to gel. Then I put the various thoughts into whatever section of the paper I think they'll wind up, or at least in the order I think I'll use them. Then I begin to see areas where expansion or trimming is needed. For any expanding, I now at least know what resources or references to concentrate on.
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