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

　　refer to the Writing Lab handout "When You Start to Write"

　　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

　　refer to the OWL Handout Coping with Writing Anxiety

　　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

　　Specific Strategies

　　These specific strategies in overcoming writer's block will prove more helpful when you're drafting the paper. If you're having trouble coming up with a thesis or generating details, see a Writing Lab tutor or the handout "When You Start to Write."

　　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.

　　Talk the Paper

　　"Talk" the paper to someone--your teacher, a friend, a roommate, a tutor in the Writing Lab. Just pick someone who's willing to give you fifteen to thirty minutes to talk about the topic and whose main aim is to help you start writing. Have the person take notes while you talk or tape your conversation. Talking will be helpful because you'll probably be more natural and spontaneous in speech than in writing. Your listener can ask questions and guide you as you speak, and you'll feel more as though you're telling someone about something than completing an assignment.

　　Tape the Paper

　　Talk into a tape recorder, imagining your audience sitting in chairs or standing in a group. Then, transcribe the tape-recorded material. You'll at least have some ideas down on paper to work with and move around.

　　Change the Audience

　　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.