How to Write when Writing Seems Impossible

By: Antonia Le ‘22

Ever since returning to USC for another fun semester of schoolwork and stress-eating, I have come face-to-face with an extremely uncomfortable truth: sometime between my last final in May and my first day of school in August, I had lost the ability to write.

Once able to write pages upon pages of semi-passable work for WRIT 150 in one night, I now struggle to write more than a paragraph of coherent thought. It’s difficult to get back into any sort of formal writing when you haven’t done it in a while. However, over my lifetime, I’ve picked up a few tips and hacks for writing when you really don’t want to (or know how to). They’ve helped me get back into the groove of writing, and I hope they’ll help you too.

1. Stop trying to write academically/formally

“What?” You might be asking me. “Isn’t the point of this article to teach me how to write academically?” Well, yes, but before you learn how to write academically, you have to learn how to write in general.

Because most people don’t think or speak in academic language, it’s often hard to switch our brains into an academic mode when we have to sit down and write a paper. You can have profound, intelligent thoughts in your head, but it’s often hard to get them onto the page when you’re trying to make them sound profound and intelligent in your first draft.

In my experience, I find the best way to translate my thoughts into words that my professors will read is to write what I sometimes call an “incoherent draft” or a “0th draft”. When I’m writing my incoherent draft, I’ll open a Google Doc and start trying to answer the prompt I was given, but only in the way I think, and not the way anyone will read. I write in stream-of-consciousness, foregoing proper punctuation and investing in the glorious run-on sentence. My incoherent drafts are filled with curse words and “[insert the right word for this here]”. I often go off on long rants that are only tangentially related to the assignment. 

Instead of trying to sound smart, I just get all of my thoughts onto the page, no matter how nonsensical they are. Then, when I think that I’ve made an attempt at answering everything I need to answer, I open up a new Google Doc window, put that side to side with my old window, and begin reading through my old work. I translate and retype every good thought I had in my incoherent draft into my new doc until I have something that marginally resembles an academic paper.

I know that writing an intentionally bad draft before starting your actual first draft seems tedious and time-consuming, but I believe that this actually saves time. In the hours that I could spend staring at my laptop screen and trying to formulate a single sentence, I will have a Google Doc full of great ideas along with a few paragraphs of material that I could easily edit into something great. 

2. Cover up your laptop screen

You might be thinking, “Okay, I understood #1, but you’ve gotta be kidding me.” Well, I’m not.

One of my biggest problems in writing is trying to edit myself before I know what I’m writing. I will have a sentence written down, but then I’ll immediately delete it because it doesn’t look right on my screen. I’ll be worrying over sentence structure before I know what my sentences are about, and the fact that Google Docs and Microsoft Word have those spellcheck lines makes it even harder for me to write. 

When I’m desperate to write and nothing feels like it’s worry, I’ll put one of my notebooks over my computer screen and just start typing. If I can’t see the screen, I can’t re-read my work and stress over the way it looks or sounds. I don’t become tempted to over-edit because I can’t see what I’ve written. Instead, I only have to concentrate on making sure my words get onto the page, which ultimately helps me write faster and be more productive in my writing sessions. 

When I’m done, I can remove the notebook and go back and read my work. Only then do I go back and edit myself. I feel like this system makes me feel less stressed out over my writing and prevents me from accidentally deleting good material in a fit of anxiety, which ultimately only helps me produce better work. 

3. Physically write things down with a pen. 

If you’re the kind of person who would always be tempted to remove the notebook from the computer while utilizing trick #2, why not instead try to remove the computer from the equation? If you’re ever really blocked, trying taking out a notebook and just start writing.

One of the great things about writing stuff down with a pen is that even when you go back to edit or delete something, you can often still see what you’ve written, which doesn’t happen unless you write in “Track Changes” mode on Word or “Suggesting” mode on Google Docs (which I personally hate the look of). When you’re writing something down, you never really lose what you write, which makes it easier for you to rework and rephrase ideas.

Moreover, the change in writing medium can help draw out new thoughts that might not have been triggered by your computer screen. If you’re blocked while trying to type something out, maybe picking up a pen will help release all of your creative juices. 

Most importantly, the act of transcribing your words from page to screen will help you catch more grammar and spelling mistakes than you would have caught if you just wrote and edited all on your computer. Who could say no to improvements in grammar and spelling? 

4. Change your font

Sometimes, you just have to put your trust in a little bit of psychology. When I’m stuck on something, I often change my font from Times New Roman or Arial (the usual academic fonts) to something like Comic Sans MS. Comic Sans MS gives less serious vibes than the other fonts I’ve mentioned, which helps give the illusion that what I’m writing is not as serious, and I can chill out a little bit.

Essentially, the new font fools your brain into thinking that you’re writing something completely new. When you’re stressed out over an assignment, it’s hard to find the right words to say. The font change gives your brain a reset, a fresh start. With a clean(-ish) slate, you’re better able to articulate what you want to say and produce an assignment your professors would enjoy reading.

5. Find a new writing location

Sometimes, all you need is just a change of scenery. Some locations are more conducive to writing than others, and if you find yourself struggling to write, try going somewhere new and seeing how that location gets your creative juices flowing.

Just like #4, a change in scenery will kind of trick your brain into thinking that you’re starting over. There’s nothing better and more hopeful than the feeling of a fresh start. Fresh starts often make people feel invincible, and don’t we all need to feel a little bit invincible when we’re writing our latest paper? 

6. Treat yo’self 

When nothing else works, find ways to incentivize yourself for getting something. Tell yourself that if you sit down for two hours to write, then you’ll go out for boba. Reward yourself with a piece of candy for every paragraph when you write. Though writing for school isn’t always fun, try to make it fun, and then the words will begin to flow out of you. Writing is hard, and you deserve a reward for everything you do. 

These tips don’t apply only to academic writing, they work for anything, from stories, to poems, to screenplays. And if you’re still not convinced, well, I managed to get this blog post up, didn’t I? 

Want more from Trojans 360?

Visit Trojans 360 on Facebook & Twitter to stay up to date with more student content! You can also Ask A Trojan an anonymous question, and we’ll try to answer it in a future post. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram!

Trojans 360 is USC’s official student-run blog. Content created by students, for students.