I have spent the past two weeks trying to figure out what I wanted to write about for an opinion article. It’s not that I’ve been lacking in ideas at all. As a matter of fact, I’ve had several ideas, both related and unrelated to university matters. But every time I try to sit down and write about any of them, I’ve been drawing a total blank. 

I’ve reached the point in the semester where the workload is becoming a little too overwhelming, to the extent where even if I get everything done, the quality’s still lacking. But there’s also a little bit more to that, I fear. I’ve stumbled upon every writer’s worst nightmare: writer’s block. As a longtime writer of poetry, music, and now news articles, writer’s block is very familiar to me. It’s not my first time dealing with it, and it’s probably a safe bet to assume that it won’t be the last time either. 

However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that it’s popped up a lot more for me this semester, probably because this is the busiest I’ve ever been in my life so far. I hardly have time to write for myself anymore, and when I do, it hasn’t felt like I’ve been doing my best at it. I’ve been feeling stuck as of late, in multiple ways. Still, feeling stuck in my writing ability has had more of an effect on me than anything else.

Everybody deals with writer’s block in different ways. Students, journalists, creative storytellers, playwrights, songwriters, and more. Personally, I find myself in quite the funk whenever I hit a block. It becomes difficult to do anything else, actually. I open up a Google Doc and find myself staring at the blank page for hours.

So, how exactly do I break free from that rough patch?

Well, for starters, I usually force myself to put something down on the page. No matter how long it takes, even if it’s absolute garbage, which a lot of the time I feel like it is. As long as there’s a place to start from, the middle and end will find its way out eventually. If I’m being honest, finding starting points for all of my work this semester has been more difficult than in the past. It’s taking longer and longer to get things started, which results in work taking longer to finish and getting finished later. For example, the very first opinion article I wrote this semester was written in about two hours, whereas this article took over a day to write.

I also tend to take breaks in-between my writing sessions. Step back, take a deep breath, and maybe start working on something else if I have the capacity in my brain to handle more than one task.

I have a hard time paying attention to one thing at a time anymore, something which can be said for a lot of people my age. Our attention spans are shorter, and it’s harder to keep a steady stream of thought anymore without something else getting in the way. It’s really affected my ability to write, actually. I’m lucky if I can get a paragraph in before my mind wanders off. Other times, I get distracted by a notification on my phone and I spend the next half an hour watching videos on YouTube and telling myself that I’ll get back to work in five minutes, which turns into 10 minutes, which turns into an hour because I ultimately have no desire to get back to writing when nothing’s coming to me. 

Writing is still one of my favorite ways to get my feelings out even if it doesn’t come as easily for me anymore. As for writer’s block, it’s something I’m always going to put up with because I’m still quite passionate about writing. So if I need to take the computer off of my lap, take timed breaks from writing anything by playing a video game or reading a chapter from a book or something else along those lines, I will.  That’s what we do for the things we love after all, isn’t it? We stick through the hard times, no matter how hard they may actually be.

I love writing. I always have, and I always will. So when I have a hard time actually putting pen to paper, I tough it out because I know inspiration will strike me when I need it the most. Now, here’s hoping the next opinion article is a little bit easier to write. And even if it isn’t, that’s perfectly okay with me, because I know that it will get easier.

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