Getting Started/Writer’s Block

Every student I’ve talked to has trouble starting essays. We tidy our bedrooms, wash the car, and re-order the cupboards to distract ourselves. Sometimes it’s good to remember that even background reading and staring out of the window trying to join the dots together very much counts. But if you’re beginning to slide into panic mode, let’s try and get you out of it because it’s not a fun place to be..

Why do our brains kick up such a fuss?

Essay writing is not straightforward.

I believe that the reason a lot of students don’t go anywhere near their essays until late on is that our brains don’t like uncertainty (uncertain Homo Erectus got eaten). If you’re someone in the category of ‘I can only start when sufficient trepidation about the deadline has built up’ you’re not alone, most people have this experience at some point, and for many students, it’s the only way they get things done. But I’d argue there is a different way of doing things. Instead of using anxiety, you can use a creative process to get started. It’s important to honour the early embryonic stages; yes we all want to be in a flow state immediately but that’s not how it works.

A process is a set of actions you do to achieve something complex. You need to hit the place where you’re concentrating, which might come with some emotions like doubt or confusion because you’re working with new material, but you should also be interested, and you shouldn’t be panicked. Settling into a task takes time, so your process should take the edge off while you’re beginning to engage. Part of my process includes setting up a Google document. This is where I’ll make voice notes (more on this later). I’ll make a shortcut for it on the homepage of my phone because ideas often pop up while I’m doing something else and I want to capture them fast before I forget. But I might also start a mindmap and/or a page of handwritten ideas.

Part of my creative process involves cutting up my notes and bluetacking them onto a board so I have an essay plan. Again, more on this later, but for now, consider why this kind of activity is a safer bet than just sitting down and forcing yourself to work.

A process will help you apply yourself when you’re still in the beginning stages and everything feels overwhelming.

Processes you could try:

• Talk to your essay out loud, tell it ‘you're moving around a lot at the moment, if you want to get written, can you tell me the first thing I need to do?’.

• Do an hour’s reading from something on the reading list and then get out of your head and into your body, so do some exercise, have a bath, do some gardening - keep a notebook close so you remember any good ideas that come up.

• While you’re starting to research, have something on in the background, maybe music, maybe some low key TV that you’ve seen before, think Fresh Prince, Friends or The Big Bang Theory.

• If the need to clean is overwhelming, try listening to a podcast or lecture at the same time.

• The Pomodoro technique makes me personally feel like I’m under house arrest but many swear by it.

• My own version of the Pomodoro technique is: sit for an hour with the rule you can either work on your essay or look out of the window but no Facebook, phone or other distractions. Eventually working on the essay becomes more interesting than just sitting.
  

In midwifery, we are used to putting our own needs last. However, a creative process should feel like it’s something you want to do. The point is it’s something you enjoy doing that acts as a gateway drug to the flow state you need to be in to work well.