Many writers suffer writer's block because they take writing rules as if the writing rules were written in stone. Writing rules are merely suggestions for better writing and these rules can be bent and made flexible to suit the writer's needs. If you are not sure how to bend these rules, that's where your teacher comes in.
It is your teacher's job to tell you how to bend the rules if necessary to fit your writing style or fit your essay. For instance, in the Writing Process, I am supposed to write my hook first, then the middle of my introduction and then my thesis followed by my 3 body paragraphs. Well, I know I cannot come up with a hook until I write my entire paper. It is the teacher's job to tell the student how the rules can be bent.
Sometimes I have students who after doing some research wants to change his position completely on his thesis statement and I tell him that it is natural to revise/tweak the thesis after doing research. Students become too enamored with writing rules, and I tell them when it is alright to break the rules from time to time to suit that student's writing process. When students get stuck, I help them.
For instance, I often have students who have difficulty coming up with a thesis statement even though they had written part of their paper already. I then tell that student to write the rest of that paper including his conclusion and then write the thesis statement last. He can then summarize what he put in his body paragraphs for his one sentence thesis to be placed as the last sentence of the first paragraph as the last thing he writes for his paper. It is my job to tell the student of this alternative so students do not become stuck using the 5 paragraph essay structure as written in their textbook.
This is why it is important for students to ask their writing teacher for help when they get stuck, and this is why it is important for teachers to get feedback from students and ask their students how they are doing on their paper to see how students are doing and to ascertain if students are experiencing writer's block.
When I design a capstone class, I always set aside a week where I can simply ask students in the discussion forum what progress they are making in their papers. If a student gets stuck, I help them out. When you teach writing rules, be aware that each student has his/her own style of writing and his/her own writing process style.
In what ways have you helped students overcome writing block through the years?
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