Furtado 1

Nicole Furtado
ENG 405
3/6/16
Henry

Meta-Commentary
Ive decided to explore a subject that many writers have come into conflict with when
trying to compose a piece of writing. Writers block is an affliction that can affect inexperienced
writers and accomplished writers alike. The blocking inability to write is something that Ive
personally struggled with on numerous occasions and often wondered if others have also been
afflicted by this mysterious disease as well. In my high school academic career, as well as my
college composition courses, writers block is not something that is directly addressed. Ive seen
many tutees come into the writing center with various forms of writers block. They either have
no passion to write, are unable to start writing, or have started an assignment but are unable to
find the words to finish it. I aim to try to unravel the various causes of writers block and how
one may overcome it. Understanding what writers block is, conceptualizing what the root of the
problem is, and having the tools to overcome it can greatly benefit students who are struggling to
put their pens to paper (or fingers to keyboard). I began researching through the website
Comppile. However, I found it quite hard to locate the full texts of the sources. Comppile does
not give a direct link to the articles, so I input the names I found into Google Scholar. This
method of searching proved to also be difficult because access was restricted to some of the
articles I thought would be most useful. This method was quite tedious. I had to constantly go
back and forth between the two search engines. I became quite frustrated, as this was a long
process and therefore my most time-consuming task. Articles by David Wallace and Mike Rose
were among the first articles that caught my eye on Comppile. The field of writers block is

Furtado 2
extensive, but these two have published works that have proven to be ground-breaking and
influential on the topic. These two authors gave me greater insight into how extensive the
research on writers block has been compiled over decades. I was also able to garner one useful
article that was fully available on Google Books that I had found originally from Comppile. An
article written by Alice Flaherty-Weaver, paraphrased another work by a famous author in the
field of writers block named Zachary Leader. I was not able to fully access Leaders article, so
this was extremely useful in gathering information for overcoming writers block. All of my
other sources were found from the UH Manoa OneSearch search engine with the exception of
the Bedfords Guide for Writing Tutors. I was able to quickly and with ease find sources that
pertained to writers block from OneSearch. All the texts had similar advice to overcome writers
block and for the cause but each give unique aspects to help overcome this problem that all
writers face at one time or another.

Furtado 3
Research Journal:
This is a table indicating the methods used for research, the key terms used to search on
various internet search engines, the results of the search method, and the amount of time it took
for each method.
Method

Key Term(s)

Result(s)

Amount
of Time

Comppile
3/4/16

Writers Block

I found multiple sources and began to

Google names of authors. I could not
access full texts. I discontinued this
method afterwards.

2 hour

Google Scholar
3/4/16

Mike Rose, David Wallace, Writers

Block

1 hour

Google Books
3/5/16

Writers Block which lead me to author

Zachary Leader

OneSearch

Writers Block

I could not access most of the full texts.

I was only able to access one case study
done by Lee and Krashen. I had to log in
with my UH Manoa ID to access Google
Scholar. I had the idea to use OneSearch
afterwards.
This led me to the source by author
Alice Flaherty-Weaver because Zachary
Leader text was unavailable.
I found 4 sources from here. It was very
useful.

20
minutes
3/6/16 =
1 hour
3/7/16 =
3 hours

Introduction:

Furtado 4
Writers block is a study within the field of composition that has warranted much
research. A great number of writers, even those of languages different from English, experience
some form of writers block at some point in their life. There are various psychological reasons
that stem from personal issues that can account for the onset of writers block. Incorrect
strategies in the preliminary stages of writing can also cause the inability to write. All is not lost,
however, and many studies and research indicate that writers block does not drain all creativity
from a writer. Indeed, writers block can be defeated with the utilization of various strategies.

Annotated Bibliography
Crosby, Christina. "Writer's Block, Merit, and the Market: Working in the University of
Excellence." College English 65.6 (2003): 626-45. Web. 3/07/16.

Christina Crosby says that writers block can be overcome by several methods.
By writing habitually in daily sessions, the process can become less painful for students. Writing
habitually gets rid of forced writing, bingeing in long sessions, procrastination, and negative selftalk. Assignments can get done in a timely manner rather than in bursts of short periods followed
by exhaustion. Another helpful tip is exteriorization. Exteriorization is having the help of other
writers in on-going conversations. I think this information directly pertains to tutoring. By
having on-going conversations, we are able to help writers with their block. She argues that
writing is a social process.

Furtado 5

Flaherty-Weaver, Alice. The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writers Block, and the
Creative Brain. Houghton Mifflin Company. E-book. 2005.
Alice Flaherty-Weavers work was useful because she explores Ernst Kriss
theory that correlates creative work, such as writing, as a battle between the ego and the id. This
theory heavily depends upon the psychoanalytical theories of Sigmund Freud. According to
Kriss interpretation, the ego and the id of the human psyche can essentially cause writers block.
If either the conscious or unconscious process gains dominance over the other, a creative project
fails. If the ego is too dominant: unusual ideas are repressed. If the id is too dominant the work
falls apart because it is undisciplined. Suggestions made to overcome writers block is decreasing
perfectionism and to silence ones own inner critics. This theory suggests silencing the super ego,
who acts as moral superiority and ones own harshest critic. I found this article to be interesting
in that it explains the psychology behind writers block. While I dont find it particularly useful
in real-time application in a tutoring session, I think it can provide knowledgeable insight into
why students get writers block.

Huston, P. "Resolving Writer's Block." Canadian Family Physician Medecin De Famille

Canadien 44 (1998): 92-7. Web. 3/07/16.

This article was published in a Canadian Medical Journal and pertained to

writers block for medical doctors and those in the medical field. The objective of this article was
to identify and define writers block. Huston defines it as a distinctly uncomfortable inability to

Furtado 6
write that can interfere with professional productive. Writers block is a stress reaction that
paralyzes the ability to put thoughts into words. It is a right-left brain conflict. The article
provides soothing tips to get over ones writers block. One must give themselves a chance to be
imperfect, take breaks if they are uninspired, and seek laughter and relaxation. I think this can
come in handy when tutoring, because it will put a student at ease if they are already stressed out.
We can remind students that it is not a cataclysmic event, but only a glitch that they cannot write
at this moment in time.

Lee, Sy-Ying, and Krashen, Stephen. "Writer's Block in a Chinese Sample." Perceptual and
Motor Skills 97.2 (2003): 537-42. Web. 3/05/16.

This case study pertained to revealing if students that spoke and wrote in
Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan also experienced writers block like their English counterparts.
Their purpose was to assess whether writers block occurs in languages other than in English.
Their results purported to reveal that good writers need an informal plan but not have it be
excessively detailed. Writers who struggled with forming ideas had inappropriate strategies for
dealing with complexity. They are too preoccupied with editing and correctness; ideas could not
flow. In contrast, good writers are willing to change the plan as they write and are likely to
revise. They realize as they write, new ideas occur. I think this notion can be useful in teaching
students that its okay to not have everything figured out in the beginning stages of their papers.
Lee and Krashen also said that good writers do not confuse editing with actual writing until ideas
are on the page. Good writers delay editing until ideas are on the page, plan but employ a flexible
plan, and are willing to revise. This case study reminds me of several points brought up in class
about ethno-centrism in the world of academia and about multi-culturalism in the writing center.

Furtado 7
It brings a perspective from another culture and confirms that someone who doesnt speak
English as their first language can be helped in the same way that a native speaker can. This
information is helpful for tutoring ESL students.

Oliver, Lawrence J. Helping Students Overcome Writer's Block. Journal of Reading 26.2
(1982): 162168. Web. 3/06/16.
Lawrence Oliver states that blocked writers are paralyzed by rules. They are
worried about violating rules and conventions when they are trying to express their thoughts.
Oliver believes that editing during composing is detrimental. His work was helpful in
determining the behaviors of blockers. They prevent themselves from generating and sustaining a
strain of ideas and halt their composing process. He thinks that it is important to ask how they
compose. This can help them to get rid of their writers block. Is an outline necessary? Can they
depart from the outline if they think of better ideas? Or are they locked into their plan? Do they
feel frustrated or discouraged when their first draft is imperfect? He believes systematic
questioning can generate facts and concrete details from a student. I feel like this line of
questioning can help determine what is detrimental to a students writing process if they are
unable to come up with ideas.

Rose, Mike. Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist Analysis
of Writer's Block. College Composition and Communication 31.4 (1980): 389401.
Web. 3/04/16.

Furtado 8
Mike Rose compares and contrasts between the writing habits of blockers
and non-blockers. Rose contends that blockers experience the inability to write because they
have various negative thoughts about their own writing while attempting to compose. They
experience a distortion of the problem-solving process and overthink their strategies. Blockers
follow a set of ultimatums that they feel comprises good writing. If they cannot attain their
absolutist rules and standards, they become self-critical. These types of thoughts block the flow
of prose for a writer. Unblocked writers have a set of rules but are less absolute. They follow
simple injunctions that free up rather than restrict the composing process. Writing is not a static
process but a fluid one. Instead of following a strict outline, they follow a general outline that is
allowed to be re-conceptualized and revised. Rose argues that although it is a least precise plan,
it therefore becomes the most functional. His work ends with a solution to determine what can be
done to help blockers. He contends that asking students certain questions can help to determine a
strategy to unblock them. How much and what kind of writing was done in high school? What
is the students major? What kind of writing does it require? How does the student compose? Are
there rough drafts or outlines available? By what rules does the student operate? How does the
student define good writing? This line of questioning brought me back to a point that Travis had
made during one of our class discussions. Travis shared about having a preliminary interview
with a student in order to best determine their needs in the writing center. I found these questions
to be directly in line with this. I think it could be very helpful to have a questionnaire like this in
order to help improve a students writing.

Ryan, Leigh and Zimmerelli, Lisa. The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors. Bedford/St. Martins.
Fifth Edition. 2010. Print. 3/07/16.

Furtado 9
This section was especially useful because it addressed a specific type of writer
with writers anxiety. The symptoms of a writer with writing anxiety correlated with someone
who also has writers block. It is someone who becomes desperate to write but cannot. Tips
given by Bedford include breaking the process down into manageable tasks and assuring them
with positive reinforcement. Bedfords tips can come in handy in a tutoring session.

Wallace, David L. Using Peer Tutors to Overcome Writers block. Research and Teaching in
Developmental Education 3.2 (1987): 32-41. Web. 3/04/16.
David Wallace studies the difficulties and frustrations students face in writing
to conform to the rules of the academic discourse community. Wallaces main theory for writers
block suggests that it stems from a writer being unable to find the right approach to a particular
subject. He analyzes a case study done on a college student named Tom, who struggled
immensely with writers block. Tom was then sent to a tutor in order to pass his composition
class. The tutor concluded that Tom psyched himself out before being able to write anything
down because of a stringent set of rules he had in place pertaining to writing. Wallace concludes
that writers who do not get blocked do not have a rigid set of rules and are fluid in their process.
The directive method the tutor used led to Tom becoming unblocked. The tutor told Tom to
choose a subject from the last sentence he wrote and to continue with a new sentence in regards
to the chosen subject. The results were successful. Tom no longer second-guessed himself all the
time and was able to write freely and confidently. In the writing center, students may need a
more direct approach to overcoming some of their fears and helping them to become better
writers.

Furtado 10

Conclusion:
Writing is not a static and linear process. Students overwhelmed with writers
block have tendencies to want to follow strict rules they have in place about the composition
process that results in them being paralyzed from writing. They are not fluid in their process.
Students become blocked by anxieties involving harsh critiques of themselves, being too
preoccupied with editing and correctness, and by following a stringent plan they have in place.
Experienced writers are able to revise and change their plan as needed. This fluidity allows ideas
to flow freely. Once students identify writers block and determine what constitutes it, they can
utilize strategies to overcome it.

Topic: Writers Block

This table features various heuristics that can help a writer overcome writers block.
Subtopics/Concepts

Definition

Tutoring Implications

Identifying a Writer with

Writers Block

This student either has no

passion to write, are unable to
start writing, or have started an
assignment but are unable to
find the words to finish it.
According to the Bedford
Guides for Writing Tutors,
there are various strategies to
help alleviate writers anxiety.

Once a tutor is able to

determine that the student is
experiencing writers block,
they can determine the best
strategy to help them.
1. As a tutor, provide
yourself as a
sympathetic ally to the
students cause.
2. Explain that starting
early will help to
alleviate some stress.
3. Help the writer break
the assignment down
into manageable tasks

Helping a Writer with Writers

Anxiety

Furtado 11

Exteriorization

Exteriorization is having the

help of other writers in ongoing conversations and
collaboration.

Silencing the Super Ego

The Super Ego, in Freudian

terms, is responsible for moral
superiority in the
conscious/subconscious mind.
Students should suspend
perfectionist tendencies within
themselves in order to have
ideas flow freely.

Seeking Relaxation/Being
Alright with Making Mistakes

By relaxing and taking breaks

during a period of writing, a
student can de-stress and
refocus.

Unblocking the Flow of

Ideas

Students should understand

that they need a willingness to
revise and change as they
write.

Systematic Questioning

This strategy is a series of

questions that can generate

and into a timely

schedule.
4. Remind the student
that a rough draft is
supposed to be
rough.
5. Have the writer set a
time to just sit down
and write.
Writing is a social process. As
a tutor, having on-going
conversations with a student
can help generate ideas when
they are stumped.
This can be done by having a
writer be less critical of their
work. As a tutor, having a
positive and encouraging
attitude can help the student be
more comfortable with the
work they produce. Therefore,
the student will be able to
write without worry of harsh
judgment and failure.
Tutors can calm a student
down and remind them that
writers block is a temporary
period. By reinforcing the idea
that this is not an earthshattering event, it will relieve
the stress that writers block
can produce. Encourage the
writer to laugh, take a breath,
and do something that makes
them happy in order to become
inspired to write again.
Tutors should encourage
delaying editing until ideas are
on the page, plan but employ a
flexible plan, and be willing to
revise.
1. Is an outline
necessary?

Furtado 12

Determining the Individual

Needs of a Student

Directive Tutoring

facts and concrete ideas from a

student on their composing
process. This line of
questioning is meant to help a
student who feels like they
need rigid rules in order to
compose. By asking these
questions, a tutor can help
pinpoint what is detrimental to
a students writing process.
This strategy constitutes as a
preliminary interview that
gauges what type of writing
the student views as good.
These questions help to
determine a strategy to
unblock a student. A tutor
can help determine
individualized needs for a
student from these questions.

By giving concise instructions

to a student, a tutor can help a
student struggling to get
started and/or conclude their
paper.

2. Can they depart from

the outline if they think
of better ideas?
3. Or are they locked into
their plan?
4. Do they feel frustrated
or discouraged when
their first draft is
imperfect?
1. How much and what
kind of writing was
done in high school?
2. What is the students
major?
3. What kind of writing
does it require?
4. How does the student
compose?
5. Are there rough drafts
or outlines available?
6. By what rules does the
student operate?
7. How does the student
define good writing?
A tutor should remind a
student that there is no rigid
set of rules to composing and
that writing is a fluid process.
If a student struggles to get
started, have them write a
sentence pertaining to the topic
of their paper. Then have the
student choose a subject from
the last sentence they wrote
and continue with a new
sentence in regards to the
chosen subject.