Sprinting Through Writers Block

Written by Abigail Beard

Let’s face it: Writing is hard.

It doesn’t matter who you are or how long you’ve been writing. It takes a lot of focus to sit down and write a draft, and it sometimes seems all but impossible, especially if the paper is more than a page long. And with social media easily accessible, it’s easy to get distracted; ten minutes go by, then a half hour, then a full hour, and the page (and our minds) are still blank.

I expressed my problem with staying focused and meeting my word count with my writing mentor, Kayla Olson, and asked her how she is able to finish a book draft on time. Her response:

Try Writing Sprints!

Writing Sprints is a technique many authors, journalists, and writers use to maximize their writing time and decrease their distractions while writing.

Here’s how it works:

1. Set a timer for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on how comfortable you are with writing and how you’re feeling that day. If you’re feeling discouraged or daunted, try setting the timer for 15 minutes. If you’re feeling great and you’re just struggling to put words down, go for 20!
2. Once you start the timer, write! Don’t worry about whether what you’re writing is “good” or not—just write. Get those thoughts down, and try your best not to stop until you hear that timer go off!
3. Give yourself a 5 – 10-minute break (this is your time to check Instagram and TikTok, stretch, get some water, or refill your coffee or tea).
4. Repeat!

I’m a fairly slow writer. It takes me a while to get into a groove where my thoughts really start coming to me and my fingers start flying across my keyboard. But when I started incorporating Writing Sprints into my writing routine, I went from writing about 700 -1,000 words in an hour of writing time to writing between 1,500 – 2,000 words in an hour of writing time. For me, that’s a lot, and it was a sign that Writing Sprints worked and was something I needed to do more often.

Benefits of Writing Sprints:

You’ll find that the more sprints you do, the better you train your brain to produce words when you sit down at your computer. The brain is a muscle, too, and it takes consistent training to become a better writer, just like it takes consistent exercise to train your body to run a 5k.

You’ll make the most of your writing time. Which would you rather do? Write for an hour straight, or write for a 15 – 20-minute chunk of time, and repeat that a couple times? Writing for a focused 15 – 20 minutes seems way more manageable to me. And knowing that I get a quick break after I work hard makes the time fly!

Extra Tip:

When she advised I try Writing Sprints, Kayla told me about an app called Forest that she uses during the time she’s writing. The purpose of it is that you set the amount of time you cannot look at your phone (the same time as your writing sprint), and you plant a tree. If you open your phone, you kill the tree. If you don’t, and you keep planting a tree each time you “sprint,” you grow a forest! It’s a great incentive to not touch your phone during your Writing Sprint!

Take it slow. Start writing for 15 minutes and give yourself a 10-minute break, and then as you become accustomed to Writing Sprints, try adding an extra 5 minutes to your sprint! That being said, don’t force it. If you’re not feeling it that day, don’t push yourself to write for 20 minutes. Write for 15 minutes, or even 10 minutes. If 10 minutes is all you’re able to manage that day, then you wrote for 10 minutes, and that’s infinitely better than nothing.

Writing is hard. That’s a fact of the game, but you now have another trick in your writing arsenal. The next time writing gets hard, get comfortable, set a timer, shut off your phone, and Sprint!

What Your Brain Might Need: A Tune to Excite

Written by Regan Campbell

I am exhausted.

Actually, that may be an understatement. With all of the changes each and every one of us has had to endure, I feel like we all are catatonic zombies just wandering through our cages of quarantine, dreaming of our previous human lives. However, I am a different kind of exhausted. I am tired of feeling like I am in a slump, like I am Phoebe from Friends who feels as though she doesn’t have a plan, let alone a “pla-”.

My brain needs some vitamins. It needs a four course meal with an extra helping of stimulation. It needs an electric charge so that it can finally function at the rate it was before. We are still in school and still need to write everyday! But how can we do so if our brains are on empty stomachs? How do we feed the beast that is our own minds?

For me, as I feel for many others, I crave music. All forms, kinds, tempos, and drives! It’s a necessity, something I cannot go a day without having and this is when I realized something. We tend to do our best with something in our ears and upon further research, this theory holds water.

Dr. Valorie Salimpoor of the Rotman Research Institute determined that our brains actually produce dopamine (that “feel good” chemical) while we listen to music (Bushak). We are addicted to the feeling and actually become more creative, dedicated, and focused as we listen.

Figure 1

What kind of music should we “feed” our brains for the best results of focused creativity? It actually depends on the person. Neurologist Oliver Sacks tested his own brain on the effects of listening to two different composers: Bach and Beethoven. Though both are classical music composers, Sacks’ brain reacted more to the music of Bach rather than Beethoven. However, this was not a result of which composer’s music was better, rather it had to do with Sacks’ own preferences. Since he preferred Bach, his brain responded in kind (Bushak).

So, what music should I listen to then? Now is the time (and we certainly do have a lot of it) to run your own experiment. While working on relatively low stake assignments, test out a bunch of different kinds of music. Find which genre you gain a better rhythm to, and then discover specific artists and composers.

For me, I love jazz music. While I am working on this post, I am listening to Dave Brubeck and his infamous song “Take Five.” It is fast paced, full of instrumentation, and extremely entertaining, which works well for my brain because I do my best work during chaotic situations. This may not be your cup of tea though! To help find your muse, start listening. Here are some recommendations:

Movie Score Artists: Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Alexandre Desplat.

Folk/Alternative Musicians: Sufjan Stevens, Morningsiders, Jack Johnson

Inspiring Pianists: Mario Vinuela, Ludovico Einaudi, Agnes Obel

Immersive Classical Composers: Erik Satie, Camille Saint-Saens, Claude Debussy

Laid Back Rockers: Dan Auerbauch, Chris Isaak, Fleetwood Mac, Hozier

Good luck and feed your brain!

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Works Cited

Bushak, Lecia. “This Is Your Brain On Music: How Our Brains Process Melodies That Pull On Our Heart Strings.” Medical Daily. March 11, 2014. https://www.medicaldaily.com/your-brain-music-how-our-brains-process-melodies-pull-our-heartstrings-271007

Images Cited

Figure One: “Do You Love Music? Here Is What Happens to Your Brain When You Listen To Your Favorite Song.” Health Awareness Community. May 16, 2016. http://healthawarenesscommunity.com/9-amazing-effects-music-health/

Fighting Procrastination in Self-Isolation (For the Writer)

Written by Sam Steelman

I haven’t been getting a lot of work done in the midst of the mandatory self-isolation due to COVID-19, but I am 100% sure I am not alone. I figured I would share what I have learned! I attempted to do some slight web-surfing on tips to fight writer’s block or procrastination, but a lot of the suggestions were “go to a book store,” “visit friends and family without using your car (train, airplane, or bus),” or “change your work scenery.” As awesome as all of this sounds, many of us are not able to leave our houses for a while; however, a lot of us are still working remotely or doing school assignments from home, and it can be hard just sitting around all day! So here are some ideas to get our creative juices flowing that will motivate us to get some words on the page.

Do something else!

I know this is vague, but what I mean is do something completely different. Don’t just work on a different assignment or scroll through social media. I mean do something weird. Get up and dance, talk to yourself (out loud), or practice your wide vocabulary. Get your brain thinking again! It is easy for all of us to just sit, stare at the computer screen, and eventually fall asleep due to complete boredom and no interest in your writing. Do something you wouldn’t usually do – surprise yourself!

Write something spontaneously creative!

I know what you are thinking; “Write something creative? How am I supposed to do that if I have writer’s block?” Here is what I am talking about: look around your room/office and pick something. It can be as insignificant as a winter scarf. When you think of a scarf what do you think of? Snow? Christmas? A specific memory? Write about it! Just start with the first sentence, and the flow will come. Trust your writing process. Once you write a short little creative piece and get your brain circulation flowing, you will have an easier time forming your arguments and getting that flow you want!

Brainstorm to some of your favorite music!

Instrumental music is really good for study time and keeping extreme focus, but it’s also great for thinking of new ideas and spawning interesting arguments. I think it is extremely beneficial to turn on a playlist you like on Spotify (that’s the app I like to use). For example, I was having a really hard time getting started on writing this blog post, but then I turned on one of my daily mix playlists. The music really helped me get some words on the page and think about how I might craft my argument.

For the love of creativity, write what you want to write!

If you have lost that spark you once had to write in your free time, my goodness just write what you want to write about! Stop thinking about the reader! I know that sounds bad but hear me out. It is so much easier to write when you care about what you are writing! Make it whatever you want! Talk about the controversial thing you really believe in! Use a cuss-word or two (or three)! If you start writing in your free time again and actually enjoy it, all of that formal writing you have to do will come much easier. Start practicing your writing again. It’s good for you!

Hopefully, this helps in fighting that writer’s block and procrastination. Right now is an extremely rough time for all of us, so utilize your time stuck at home to rediscover your passion for writing. I will leave you with this quote from Toni Morrison:

If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.