Because writers have a various ways of writing, a variety of reasons can cause writer's block. When you are blocked, consider these causes and try the strategies that sound most promising.

IF

You have attempted to begin a paper without doing any preliminary work such as brainstorming or outlining...

THEN

• work with a tutor
• use invention strategies suggested by a tutor or teacher

IF

You have chosen or been assigned a topic which bores you....

THEN

• choose a subject you are interested in (if the teacher will allow it)
• talk to a tutor about how you can personalize a topic to make it more interesting

IF

You don't want to spend time writing or don't understand the assignment...

THEN

• resign yourself to the fact that you have to write the paper
• find out what is expected of you (consult a teacher, textbook, student, or tutor)
• try some of the strategies listed above

IF

You are anxious about writing the paper...

THEN

• see a Writing Lab tutor

IF

You're self-conscious about the writing situation, you may have trouble getting started. So, if you're preoccupied with the idea that you have to write about a subject and feel you probably won't express your most original thoughts regarding the subject...

THEN

• talk over the subject with a friend or tutor
• use one of the specific strategies listed below

IF

You can't stand to write down an idea until it is perfectly worded or if you don't want to leave a poorly worded section on the page after you've written it...

THEN

• ease up on your self-criticism
• force yourself to write down something, however poorly worded that approximates your thought (you can revise this later) and go on with the next idea
• use some of the specific strategies below
• break the task up into steps. Meet the general purpose of the assignment.

IF

You are worrying about what your teacher or other reader will think of your paper or how harshly he or she will evaluate it...

THEN

• think of the present draft as a practice run. Write the draft quickly, and revise it later.
• use some of the specific strategies below

These specific strategies in overcoming writer's block will prove more helpful when you're drafting the paper.

Begin in the Middle

Start writing at whatever point you like. If you want to begin in the middle, fine. Leave the introduction or first section until later. The reader will never know that you wrote the paper "backwards." Besides, some writers routinely save the introduction until later when they have a clearer idea of what the main idea and purpose will be.

Pretend that you're writing to a child, to a close friend, to a parent, to a person who sharply disagrees with you, to someone who's new to the subject and needs to have you explain your paper's topic slowly and clearly. Changing the audience can clarify your purpose. (Who am I writing to when I explain how to change the oil in a car? That guy down the hall who's always asking everyone for help.) Changing the audience can also make you feel more comfortable and help you write more easily.

Play a Role

Pretend you are someone else writing the paper. For instance, assume you are the president of a strong feminist movement such as NOW and are asked to write about sexist advertising. Or, pretend you are the president of a major oil company asked to defend the high price of oil. Consider being someone in another time period, perhaps Abraham Lincoln, or someone with a different perspective from your own on things--someone living in Hiroshima at the time the bomb was dropped. Pulling yourself out of your usual perspective can help you think more about the subject than writing about the subject.

What is a paragraph?

A paragraph is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single topic. To be as effective as possible, a paragraph should contain each of the following: Unity, Coherence, A Topic Sentence, and Adequate Development. As you will see, all of these traits overlap. Using and adapting them to your individual purposes will help you construct effective paragraphs.

1. Unity:

The entire paragraph should concern itself with a single focus. If it begins with a one focus or major point of discussion, it should not end with another or wander within different ideas.

2. Coherence:

Coherence is the trait that makes the paragraph easily understandable to a reader. You can help create coherence in your paragraphs by creating logical bridges and verbal bridges.

logical bridges:

• The same idea of a topic is carried over from sentence to sentence
• Successive sentences can be constructed in parallel form

verbal bridges:

• Key words can be repeated in several sentences
• Synonymous words can be repeated in several sentences
• Pronouns can refer to nouns in previous sentences
• Transition words can be used to link ideas from different sentences

3. A topic sentence:

A topic sentence is a sentence that indicates in a general way what idea or thesis the paragraph is going to deal with. Although not all paragraphs have clear-cut topic sentences, and despite the fact that topic sentences can occur anywhere in the paragraph (as the first sentence, the last sentence, or somewhere in the middle), an easy way to make sure your reader understands the topic of the paragraph is to put your topic sentence near the beginning of the paragraph. (This is a good general rule for less experienced writers, although it is not the only way to do it).

4. Adequate development

The topic (which is introduced by the topic sentence) should be discussed fully and adequately. Again, this varies from paragraph to paragraph, depending on the author's purpose, but writers should beware of paragraphs that only have two or three sentences. It's a pretty good bet that the paragraph is not fully developed if it is that short.

• Use examples and illustrations
• Cite data (facts, statistics, evidence, details, and others)
• Examine testimony (what other people say such as quotes and paraphrases)
• Use an anecdote or story
• Define terms in the paragraph
• Compare and contrast
• Evaluate causes and reasons
• Examine effects and consequences
• Analyze the topic
• Describe the topic
• Offer a chronology of an event (time segments)

• A logical, general description
• A schematic summary
• An organizational pattern
• A visual and conceptual design of your writing

An outline reflects logical thinking and clear classification.

General:

• Aids in the process of writing

• Helps you organize your ideas
• Presents your material in a logical form
• Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing
• Constructs an ordered overview of your writing
• Defines boundaries and groups

• Determine the purpose of your paper.
• Determine the audience you are writing for.
• Develop the thesis of your paper.

Then:

• Brainstorm: List all the ideas that you want to include in your paper.
• Organize: Group related ideas together.
• Order: Arrange material in subsections from general to specific or from abstract to concrete.
• Label: Create main and sub headings.

An outline has a balanced structure based on the following principles:

• Parallelism
• Coordination
• Subordination
• Division

Whenever possible, in writing an outline, coordinate heads should be expressed in parallel form. That is, nouns should be made parallel with nouns, verb forms with verb forms, adjectives with adjectives, and so on (Example: Nouns: computers, programs, users; Verbs: to compute, to program, to use; Adjectives: home computers, new programs, experienced users). Although parallel structure is desired, logical and clear writing should not be sacrificed simply to maintain parallelism. (For example, there are times when nouns and gerunds at the same level of an outline are acceptable.) Reasonableness and flexibility of form is preferred to rigidity.

In outlining, those items which are of equal significance have comparable numeral or letter designations: an A is equal to a B, a 1 to a 2, an a to a b, etc. Coordinates should be seen as having the same value. Coordination is a principle that enables a writer to maintain a coherent and consistent document.

Explanation: Word is a type of word processing program and should be treated as a subdivision. Page Maker is a type of desktop publishing program. One way to correct coordination would be:

Subordination

A. Computers

1. Mainframe

2. Micro

a. Floppy disk

b. Hard disk

B. Computer uses

1. Institutional

2. Personal

The most important rule for outlining form is to be consistent!

An outline can use topic or sentence structure.

A topic outline uses words or phrases for all entries and uses no punctuation after entries.

Advantages: presents a brief overview of work and is generally easier and faster to write than a sentence outline.

A sentence outline uses complete sentences for all entries and uses correct punctuation.

Advantages: presents a more detailed overview of work including possible topic sentences and is easier and faster for writing the final paper.

I.

A.

B.

1.

2.

a.

b.

1.0

1.1

1.2

1.2.1

1.2.2

1.2.2.1

1.2.2.2

Week One:

Discussions:

Answer all questions in one post by Sunday, midnight. Label Part I, Part II, and Part III.

Part I: Introduce yourself to the class (250 words).

Part II: Tell us what you would like to learn from this class. (100 words).

Part III: Make sure you respond to two of your fellow students’ postings.

Read Chapters 1 and 11 in your text.

Submit Your Syllabus