Writer’s Block: Part 2

Writer’s Block: Uninteresting Subject Matter

Even if you enjoy the subject matter about which you’re writing, and it is something you find interesting, occasionally you may hit a roadblock and not know what to say. In such a case, there are several things that may help, especially if you’ve been working on the same project for some time:

Take a break:
Many times it’s best to just leave your work, forget about it, and go do something completely unrelated to it. After awhile, come back to it (hopefully refreshed). This gives your mind a chance to recover and, after a rest, refocus. And while you’re on a break, your subconscious may still be busy working, figuring things out for you behind the scenes.

Hit people up for ideas:
Make use of your friends, family, or acquaintances (or even cooperative strangers). Getting a different perspective is very often the catalyst that moves a writing project forward. After all, if you only get the same view day after day (your own), your perspective will necessarily be limited. It can be a wise thing to discuss what you’re writing about with some non-experts, as their views will be an interesting—and perhaps inspiring—change from the same-old, same-old opinions you get from yourself, textbooks, and experts in the field.

Do more research:
Oh, I can imagine the response to this suggestion: MORE?! Do you know how much I’ve looked into this already? That’s not the way to look at it, though. Rather, you need to think of it like this: There’s something I may be missing; if I look hard enough, I’ll find it, and then my essay will really shine.

Review what you’ve done already:
Sometimes it helps to just go back through and see what you’ve already written. It may be that something pops out at you, such as Oh, I forgot to cover this part of that subject…or maybe, Ah—I just need to expound a little more fully on this area…

Writer’s block never lasts forever. If it does, there’s probably something wrong with the length of the essay you’ve been asked to write.