User:Alyssancor/Writer's block

Procrastination[edit] Draft emilyac4
Writer’s block and procrastination are two very similar issues that people struggle with when it comes to writing. Writer’s block is an issue that can cause students to delay their goals. As Karen E. Peterson describes in her article "Relationships Among Measures Of Writer's Block, Writing Anxiety, And Procrastination," writer's block may prevent many persons from finishing writing projects. Although writer’s block and procrastination are not the exact same issue, they can end up leading up to one another. Writer’s block is not continuing to do a task, and procrastination is delaying to start the task. Peterson puts out two different scenarios on how procrastination and writer’s block can lead up to each other. One of the scenarios is that a person will procrastinate due to having the fear of past experiences of getting writer’s block when doing a task. The other scenario that was described was that a person will have writer’s block because of the feeling of being overwhelmed on needing to do a task last minute after procrastinating for a long period of time.

Procrastination is sometimes used for someone's own personal benefit. Many people use it to give themselves a little break from a task that they don't want to do during the moment. Others have an issue with procrastination due to not having a good relationship with time itself. Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen describe a pattern that majority of procrastinators have in the book Procrastination : Why You Do It, What to Do About It. They describe that when someone is a procrastinator there is a 6 part process that they do when they procrastinate which is called "wishful thinking". The first part that happens is that procrastinators become very hopeful that they’ll be able to start/finish their project. Secondly, they start to realize that time is passing by and the deadline is coming up sooner than they thought. Thirdly, they start to doubt themselves on even starting the task and are wondering if they’ll even be able to finish it. The fourth part leads back to the first part, which is them becoming hopeful again that they’ll be able to do their task and finish it. The fifth part is when the procrastinator starts to blame themselves and question themselves on why they self-sabotage themselves on their task. The last part determines whether or not they end up doing the task at all.

Due to procrastination being an issue among a lot of students when it comes down to their tasks such as writing, there have been case studies that were focused on it. Lynn Z. Bloom focused on doing case studies in her book The Composing Processes of Anxious and Non-Anxious Writers: A Naturalistic Study where she focused on "anxious writer and non anxious writers in workshops to reduce writing apprehension and in regular literature/composition classes" to show the difference between the two types of writers. During the study, it was noticed that most of the occurring issues were a lack of time management, procrastination, and not being able to keep focus within their work. The study observed the writing difference of such writers and their composing process and compared that writing to an anxious writer's work and their composing process. Bloom states that it all depends on the interest of the individual and that "If students are doing writing they enjoy, and they know they will not be punished for it, they begin their composing processes sooner thinking about the subject, investigating it, and actually writing." Bloom found a difference during the composing process for both anxious and non anxious writers. For the anxious students, "Their time spent procrastinating is transformed into productive time, and their papers improve considerably" and as for the non anxious students "..what they believe is procrastinating behavior is, actually thinking behavior, the composing stage of invention." Although in the study, both different types of writers had produced the same amount of writing, the devotion and quality wasn't the same. Anxious writers were found to give less amount of time and effort in their writing and end up procrastinating and get distracted more than others. As with the non anxious writers, their quality of writing was found to be done more efficiently and that rewriting was done in the process which is not common to be done by anxious writers. In the overall study, Bloom concluded that non anxious writers are more purposeful in their writing compared to anxious writers and that they have more self-control when it comes to getting tasks done.

Another study was done to see how procrastination has an effect on a student's academics. Bruce W. Tuckman did his article study on " Relations of Academic Procrastination, Rationalizations, and Performance in a Web Course with Deadlines" which studied 106 college students comparing their academics using a 16-item Tuckman Procrastination Scale, a measure of tendency to procrastinate and a 9-item self-regulation scale. Tuckman measured the tendency to procrastinate by breaking it into three parts. Tuckman states that the 3 broken up parts included "the measurement of frequency and nature of rationalizations used to justify procrastination, self-regulation and performance in a web-based study strategies course with frequent performance deadlines." The reasoning behind this study was to see how there is behavioral pattern in students with their academic procrastination and the consequences they deal with academic deadlines. Many people claim that they "work better under pressure" as an excuse to procrastinate which at the end shows how this can be a source of affecting their academic performance and can cause stress. The saying is known to be used an excuse and to "motivate for the delay." That type of mindset is what is being reflected on "wishful thinking" which is a big factor that plays into the role procrastination. The analysis that Tuckman received on his study was that the ones who scored higher on academic procrastination were more likely to "utilize rationalizations, less inclined to self-regulate, and perhaps consequently, performed more poorly in a highly structured, web-based course in which many performances had deadlines." In his conclusion study, Tuckman states that "procrastination may begin with poor academic performance", which can the reasoning why many students tend to self-sabotage themselves and creating this pattern of avoiding to get their work done in a timely manner.

In Beth Rapp Young and Barbara A. Fritzsche's journal article " Writing Center Users Procrastinate Less: The Relationship between Individual Differences in Procrastination, Peer Feedback, and Student Writing Success" another study asked if writing centers can be a helpful resource for students who deal with procrastination. They believe that by examining the "relations between procrastination tendency, peer feedback, and student writing success in writing intensive course," what usually tends to happen when students procrastinate is that when the deadline is coming close, they end up submitting their first draft as their final draft which leads to reflecting on their grade. By the student procrastinating, it can impact their academic life in a negative way which "hinders students' progress towards their academic goals." Young and Fritzsche state that the negative consequences of procrastinating can lead to "perfectionism, depression, low grades, social anxiety, irrational beliefs, self-handicapping, low self-confidence, cheating, and low self-esteem." Both Young and Fritzsche determined that "writing center helps writers avoid procrastinating, a distinction must be drawn between procrastination tendency and procrastination behavior." In their study, they found that 38% of their participants  "nearly always" or "always" procrastinated on writing a term paper, a finding consistent with other studies participants who tended to procrastinate overall" and have earned a lower grade in their writing courses. A consequence of this has lead students to get anxiety and lower GPA’s. The study focused on how students who received feedback tend to start on their papers earlier than the students who didn’t receive feedback. Young and Fritzsche claim that in their study demonstrated "that writing center users procrastinate less on their writing, using the writing center, was associated with significantly fewer procrastination behaviors." They concluded that the writing center does have a big impact on helping students to procrastinate less and become better writers by receiving feedback.

Coping strategies[edit] Draft
The bold lettering is what I am adding- Nadine C

Underline is what I am adding- Mariela H

Clark describes the following strategies for coping with writer's block: class and group discussion, journaling, free writing and brainstorming, clustering, list making, and engaging with the text. To overcome writing blocks, Oliver suggests asking writers questions to uncover their writing process. He then recommends solutions such as systematic questioning, free writing, and encouragement. A recent study of 2,500 writers aimed to find techniques that writers themselves use to overcome writer's block.[citation needed] The research discovered a range of solutions from altering the time of day to write and setting deadlines to lowering expectations and using mindfulness meditation. Research has also shown that it is highly effective if one breaks their work into pieces rather than doing all of their writing in one sitting, in order to produce good quality work. '''While it can be helpful to split up the writing process into pieces, Patricia Huston suggests that starting with different sections of your paper rather than trying to start with an introduction, can be a useful strategy to cope with writer's block. She points out that If you find yourself stuck on the introduction, try moving onto a different section like a body paragraph. Huston states, "There is no need to begin at the beginning and write an article in sequence".'''

It is also important to evaluate the environment in which the writing is being produced to determine if it is the best condition to work in. One must look into these different factors to determine if it is a good or bad environment to work in. Psychologists who have studied writer's block have concluded that it is a treatable condition once the writer finds a way to remove anxiety and build confidence in themselves.

Educators often don't have time to go over ways to improve students' writing, which can lead to writer's block. When experiencing writer's block, it is suggested to take breaks or seek help from others. Asking others for feedback can improve a person's mood, motivation, and even lead to new perspectives. Mike Rose mentions that peer tutors provide supportive feedback in which blocked writers can feel secure in sharing their problems and experimenting with new ideas about writing. Interviews between teachers and students are also another great way to help those dealing with writer's block. Interviews should be one-on-one. Questions educators could ask include:


 * Are there any specific rules you use when writing?
 * What does your writing process look like?

Sarah Ahmed and Dominik Güss state that solutions for coping with writer's block include using more efficient writing strategies during the composing process, more effective goal-setting strategies, and even brainstorming ideas with others.

Garbriele Lusser Rico's concern with the mind links to brain lateralisation, also explored by Rose and Linda Flowers and John R. Hayes among others. Rico's book, Writing the Natural Way looks into invention strategies, such as clustering, which has been noted to be an invention strategy used to help writers overcome their blocks, and further emphasizes the solutions presented in works by Rose, Oliver, and Clark. Similar to Rico, James Adams discusses "right-brain" involvement in writing. While Bill Downey proposes that he is basing his approach in practical concerns, his concentration on "right-brain" techniques speaks to cognitive theory approach similar to Rico's and a more practical advice for writers to approach their writer's block.

Free writing is a widely accepted technique for overcoming writer's block. Taught by Peter Elbow, free writing is similar to brainstorming but is written in prose form without stopping. To free-write one writes without pausing to think or edit, and one pours raw ideas onto paper. Author Benjamin Solomon described the rationale for the technique: "Writer's block is a rut, a ditch, a trap, a swampy mire, and in order to lift yourself out, you need to DO something—anything!—to jog yourself into motion." '''Cherryl Armstrong who worked with the South Coast Writing Project and who was a TA in English at the University of California, Santa Barbara, states that you can free write about anything. It could be a completely different subject than what you were initial going to write about. Similar to Solomon, Armstrong states "any writing will do". Oliver claims after free writing the writer is able to analyze many ideas that might have not generated before and develop a clearer sense of what theme is trying to be communicated throughout your writing. ''' Lawrence J. Oliver suggests that freewriting is another effective method that has helped people deal with writer's block. This method consists of writing down ideas or thoughts about a certain topic. Freewriting doesn't focus on grammar or style. There is only one rule for this method, and that is to keep on writing. Educators should also never read students' freewriting unless asked to do so.

'''Stephen Marcus and Sheridan Blau suggest invisible writing with computers as a possible solution to writer's block. Invisible writing with computers is done by setting the color of text when writing on a computer to a color that you cannot see, then freewriting. This will allow one to write without instantly seeing their writing, allowing you to write without feeling pressure to revise or correct errors. Marcus and Blau state the invisible writing process can allow individuals "to give more concentrated and sustained attention to their emerging thoughts than they ordinarily gave when composing with a working pen or pencil". '''

Mind mapping is suggested as another potential solution to writer's block. The technique involves writing a stream of consciousness on a horizontal piece of paper and connecting any similar or linked thoughts. This exercise is intended to help a writer suffering from writer's block to bypass the analytical or critical functioning of their brain and access the creative functioning more directly, stimulating the flow of ideas. Other techniques similar to clustering and mind mapping are the writing of notes on cards in a card file, and nonlinear electronic writing using hypertext.

Other ways to cope come from ideas such as The Brand Emotions Scale for Writers (BESW). Using the framework of the Differential Emotions Scale, the BESW works with grouping emotions into either states or traits and then classifying them as positive, negative passive, or negative active. Researchers can assess subjects, giving writers a chance to get more work done if left in the right emotional state since data suggests that writers with positive emotions tended to express more than writers with negative passive or negative active.

'''Anne Johnstone suggests a couple of strategies to help with writer's block. When you find yourself unable to generate content, Johnstone suggest "recopying a well-liked piece" of your own to help generate ideas. Johnstone states that for individuals who are articulate orally but struggle with writing and forming their ideas into sentences on paper, should try tape-recording themselves then transcribing it onto paper afterwards. ''' Anne Johnstone also points out that people who struggle with writer's block due to anxiety or confusion can be encouraged to write about other topics of interest. In other cases, individuals who are more comfortable expressing ideas orally can benefit from recording their thoughts and then editing them later. This solution is helpful for those who struggle with expressing themselves in writing.

Causes
-bold lettering are my edit-Brian Huynh

Writer's block may have several causes. Some are creative problems that originate within an author's work itself. A writer may run out of inspiration, or be distracted by other events. A fictional example can be found in George Orwell's novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying, in which the protagonist Gordon Comstock struggles in vain to complete an epic poem describing a day in London: "It was too big for him, that was the truth. It had never really progressed, it had simply fallen apart into a series of fragments."

Other blocks may be produced by adverse circumstances in a writer's life or career: physical illness, depression, the end of a relationship, financial pressures, or a sense of failure.[citation needed] The pressure to produce work may in itself contribute to writer's block, especially if they are compelled to work in ways that are against their natural inclination (e.g. with a deadline or an unsuitable style or genre).[citation needed] The writer Elizabeth Gilbert, reflecting on her post-bestseller prospects, proposed that such a pressure might be released by interpreting creative writers as "having" genius rather than "being" a genius.

It has been suggested that writer's block is more than just a mentality. Under stress, a human brain will "shift control from the cerebral cortex to the limbic system". The limbic system is associated with the instinctual processes, such as "fight or flight" response; and behaviour that is based on "deeply engrained training". The limited input from the cerebral cortex hinders a person's creative processes, which is replaced by the behaviours associated with the limbic system. The person is often unaware of the change, which may lead them to believe they are creatively "blocked". In her 2004 book The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain, the writer and neurologist Alice W. Flaherty has argued that literary creativity is a function of specific areas of the brain, and that block may be the result of brain activity being disrupted in those areas. Dr. Flaherty suggested in her writing that there are many diseases that may impact one's ability to write. One of which she refers to is hypergraphia, or the intensive desire to write. She points out that in this condition, the patient's temporal lobe is afflicted, usually by damage, and it may be the same changes in this area of the brain that can contribute to writer's-blocking behaviours. Not to be confused with writer's block, agraphia is a neurological disorder caused by trauma or stroke causing difficulty in communicating through writing. Agraphia cannot be treated directly, but it is possible to relearn certain writing abilities.

Physical damage can produce writer's block. If a person experiences tissue damage in the brain, i.e. a stroke, it is likely to lead to other complications apart from the lesion itself. This damage causes an extreme form of writer's block known as agraphia. With agraphia, the inability to write is due to issues with the cerebral cortex; this disables the brain's process of translating thoughts into writing. Brain injuries are an example of a physical illness that can cause a writer to be blocked. Other brain related disorders and neurological disorders such as epilepsy have been known to cause the problem of writer's block and hypergraphia, the strong urge to write. Some other causes of writer's block has been due to writer's anxiety. Writer's anxiety is defined as being worried with one's words or thought, thus experiencing writer's block.

For a composition perspective, Lawrence Oliver said in his article "Helping Students Overcome Writer's Block": "Students receive little or no advice on how to generate ideas or explore their thoughts, and they usually must proceed through the writing process without guidance or corrective feedback from the teacher, who withholds comments and criticism until grading the final product." He said that students "learn to write by writing", and often they are insecure and/or paralysed by rules.

Phyllis Koestenbaum wrote in her article "The Secret Climate the Year I Stopped Writing" about her trepidation toward writing, claiming it was tied directly to her instructor's response. She said, "I needed to write to feel, but without feeling I couldn't write." In contrast to Koestenbaum's experience, Nancy Sommers expressed her belief that papers do not end when students finish writing and that neither should instructors' comments. She urges a "partnership" between writers and instructors so that responses become a conversation.

Herman A. Estrin in his article "Motivation in Composition Writing" writes, "When freshmen are assigned such topics for a research paper as...they have no real background of the subject for an in-depth paper...they prepare a mechanical, lifeless paper with no creativity, imagination, or originality". According to him, freshman students write well about topics they are passionate about.

'''Aline Alves-Wold, in her article, "Assessing Writing Motivation: a Systematic Review of K-5 Students' Self-Reports" states that there is a general lack of research on the motivation of students to write in the first few years of education, which is problematic when one considers how important initial experiences are in motivating students to write. Success generally enhances one's belief in their efficacy, whereas failure weakens them. "These mechanisms are particularly evident in early phases of skill development where failure typically occurs before a sense of efficacy has been firmly established. This implies that children in their first years in school have writer self-beliefs that are particularly malleable and dynamic". cite Writing development is therefore both enhanced and endangered during the first years in school.'''

Mike Rose stated that writer's block can be caused by a writer's history in writing, rules and restrictions from the past. Writers can be hesitant of what they write based on how it will be perceived by the audience.

'''Guangming Ling, observed that there is a negative correlation between self-efficacy and avoidance goals in studies on writing apprehension and writer's block. This suggests that having hesitations about writing may lead to less effort and thus less success.'''

James Adams noted in his book Conceptual Blockbusting that various reasons blocks occur include fear of taking a risk, "chaos" in the pre-writing stage, judging versus generating ideas, an inability to incubate ideas, or a lack of motivation.

'''Ana Camacho in her article "Writing Motivation in School: a Systematic Review of Empirical Research in the Early Twenty-First Century" wrote that a condition was proposed that would enhance writing motivation in the classroom. She argues that to foster students' positive self-beliefs and beliefs about writing, teachers must nurture their self-beliefs as well as their beliefs about the writing task.'''

Leonie Kirchoff in his article "Motivation in the Writing Centre: A Peer Tutor's Experience" states "The concept of 'amotivation' describes a lack of motivation due to an individual's feeling of incompetence and helplessness". '''Demotivation is the process of reducing or diminishing motivational basis for behavior or ongoing actions through external influences. An external factor such as feedback may affect demotivation, whereas an internal factor, such as pessimistic expectations, may cause amotivation. Even so, both concepts have similar effects on writers.'''

Other research identifies neurological malfunctions as a cause. Malcolm T. Cunningham showed how these malfunctions can be linked to trauma both mental and physical.