My Way of Getting Out of the Dreaded "Writer's Block"

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Today's post is by our intern Ben Kostyack, a senior at Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington D. C.

Every writer, young or old, has experienced it at least once in their writing career. You put your pen on the paper to write words, but words don’t flow onto the paper like they usually do. You are stuck in the writer’s block.

            Writer’s block can happen even if you know the basic idea of what you want to write. Getting those thoughts into words can be challenging when it’s finally time to write your piece.

            I have dealt with writer’s block more times than I can remember. I used to solve my problem by just walking away from my computer and trying again another time. Unfortunately, we need to meet deadlines in the modern world, so we don’t have time for that.

            My 11^th grade English teacher asked me what I was doing as I stared out the window in class one day, with a blank paper sitting in front of me. I told her the truth. I didn’t know what to write about. Then she said something that surprised me. She told me to just write whatever words came to my mind, regardless of whether or not they made sense.

            Although I was hesitant at first, sentences began flowing onto my paper. Soon, sentences about nothing turned into sentences that made sense. The carefree writing had opened up my brain and allowed me to think more creatively.

            So the next time you have a brain freeze while writing, or you face writer’s block, I suggest you just write. Just write whatever comes to mind, and let it flow.