Defeating Writer’s Anxiety with the Writing Game, “Elegy for a Dead World”

Written by Daehyun Won

Most writers, including myself, when writing something academic or creative, face writing anxiety during the process. Ironically, it’s when we need our creativity the most when that anxiety hits – when we pour over a sentence or passage for far too long. In those situations, our brains blank and become full of muddy sufferings. I remember a tough day last semester when I could only write five clumsy sentences. Those clumsy sentences took all of my energy that day.

Fortunately, we’re not alone in this problem. Famous, full-time writers struggle with writer’s anxiety. Van Wyck Brooks wrote in Opinions of Oliver Allston:

“No work this morning. My brain feels like an old sponge, battered by the waves and rocks of dozens of winters. In thirty years of writing, I have not gained an ounce of confidence. I begin each new book (as I have probably always begun, although I never remember it) with a sense of impotence, chaos and desperation that cannot be overstated. I always feel that I am foredoomed to failure.”

“Notebooks of the Mind: Explorations of Thinking” by Vera John-Steiner

Writer’s anxiety can come at any time to anyone.

The burden of creativity is the major factor that weighs on, pushes down, and blocks that creativity. Yes, the anxiety is all about creativity. Jeff Goins suggests various solutions to writer’s anxiety – to alleviate and ultimately defeat it; they include activities like walking, doing a puzzle, changing your environment, listening to music, calling someone, etc.

The most effective solution he suggests, however, is freewriting. This is meant to shifting the burden of creativity to the joy of creation. By freewriting, we can take the muddy sufferings as they come and put them on the page as part of the process.

Players write the story of “Elegy for a Dead World.”

For those who love video games like me, there is a perfect answer to writer’s anxiety: Elegy for a Dead World, the creative writing video game. This unique game is aimed to stir a writer’s inventive thinking. Throughout explorations of exotic, cosmic worlds, players write possible stories in given situations. What the player writes then becomes the game’s narrative – ultimately becoming the game’s creative ending.

The game’s interface is simple – not imposing or burdensome on the player. In certain places, spaceship-like writing pods with prompts appear in which the player fills in the blank with their imagination. The writing is not bound to a specific genre. Users can write down anything, such as a haiku, long-form poem, short fiction, etc. This creates the perfect setting for free writing as well as a great way to stimulate the player’s creativity.

Players write the story of “Elegy for a Dead World.”

You are a lone astronaut in a sci-fi world. This solitary situation provides an opportunity to contemplate and imagine your own plot. The player’s creativity is connected to various visual interactions with vivid surroundings. To assist visual learners’ in overcoming their writing block, these imaginative visual elements are helpful in disturbing a resting creativity. The most fascinating part of this game is its communal component. Players can share their stories with the game’s online community.

Writer’s anxiety might not be defeated flat out, but it can definitely be soothed so that creative writing is again fun and imaginative. It’s important to build confidence in your writing, so that you can defeat writer’s anxiety when you encounter it next.

For the game trailer:

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References

“Elegy for a Dead World – A Game About Writing.” YouTube, uploaded by GameSpot Trailer, 30 Sep 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRXp-VfMOF0.

Elegy for a Dead World, Dejobaan Games, LLC, 2014.

“Elegy for a Dead World.” Steam, Valve, 2014, store.steampowered.com/app/252290/Elegy_for_a_Dead_World/.

Goins, Jeff. “How to Overcome Writer’s Block: 14 Tricks that Work.” Goins, Writer, GoinsWriter, n.d., goinswriter.com/how-to-overcome-writers-block/.

John-Steiner, Vera. Notebooks of the Mind: Explorations of Thinking. Oxford University Press, 1997.

The Creativity of Cursive

Written by Dr. Jennifer Phillips-Denny

Are you bored or stressed during quarantine? I have a great idea for you! How about either improving or learning cursive? Around 2010, public schools stopped teaching cursive, but now is your chance, with some time on your hands, to improve those handwriting skills or learn cursive if you were never taught it. Learning something new during a time like this increases confidence, and focusing on a repetitive task like improving your handwriting can be calming and help ease anxiety. There are a variety of mental benefits from writing in cursive.

Increase Mental Creativity
Writing in cursive improves the back-and-forth between the left and right parts of the brain and can increase mental creativity. Writing in cursive activates the parts of the brain involved in thinking and language, so handwriting notes when you are trying to learn increases mental retention. Because writing in cursive improves the dynamism between both sides of the brain, handwriting can help you get started on a paper, as well as helping you get writing again if you are fighting writer’s block.

Remember What You Write
Writing in cursive accelerates mental retention when you are taking notes or trying to learn anything new. Writing in cursive is also faster than printing because you lift your pen or pencil from the page fewer times than when printing. Faster writing means more writing! 

Improve Spelling
Writing in cursive can also improve your spelling skills. As you develop your handwriting, your spelling skills increase through muscle memory in much the same way a pianist learns patterns of hand movements.

The Tradition of Elegant Handwriting
Plus, having a pleasing signature is still an important element of rhetorical ethos, or credibility, in our world. Imagine if the founding fathers hadn’t been able to put their elegant signatures on the declaration of independence. Don’t you want your signature to be as impressive as that of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams?

Perhaps the most significant reason to improve your handwriting, though, are rhetorical situations that are more suited to cursive. Rhetorical pathos, the emotional needs of readers, is best expressed in a condolence letter sent by regular post instead of an email expressing sympathy. Taking the time to write a handwritten missive of “thank you” to a loved one shows more gratitude than a quickly sent email. And, of course, the most charming way to write a love letter is still in cursive. Let’s not let the art of elegant handwriting fade into obscurity. Just because we can type something, doesn’t mean we always should.

So where do you start, as an adult, to learn cursive? There are a lot of online resources for learning cursive, but the National Handwriting Association is a great place to start.

A Healthy Diet Means A Creative Mind

Written by Elijah Gamble

The sudden onslaught of quarantine-induced madness has, if anything, proven the importance of an individual’s mental and physical well-being—that which is crucial to eloquent writing. One of the most effective ways to enhance a person’s health is food; by carefully selecting (affordable!) foods to eat and enjoy, an individual could take a step towards a healthier, stronger body as well as experience an increase in creativity—two things most people are in desperate need of right now.

What Foods Boost Creativity?

• Antioxidants (boosts the firing speed of “creative impulses”; boosts immune system productivity): Fruits, vegetables— specifically blueberries!
• Choline (boosts the brain’s amount of “grey matter”, helps with memory): Often found in egg yolk and milk.
• And, a special shoutout to green tea: Caffeine can boost creativity (in moderation)!

Some cheap, healthy and quarantine-friendly recipes

Vegan Potato Soup

Gluten-free Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Chilli

Enjoy these well-being friendly and wallet friendly recipes and get to writing!

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/

Writing with Your Feet: the Creative Power of Running

Written by Abigail Beard

You might be wondering why we’re talking about running in a writing blog post. I mean, this is a writing blog, not a fitness blog, right?

Yes!

Exercise, particularly running and yoga, strongly affect our ability to write for the better, and as writers, we all need to be aware of ways to improve our writing skills while maintaining our physical and mental health.

Plenty of famous authors and writers engage in some form of running or walking—among them are Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Malcolm Gladwell, Frederich Nietzsche, and Henry David Thoreau—and for all of them, running improves their writing or helps them push past writer’s block and sticky writing places. Even if you aren’t seeking a profession in writing, you are a writer for your classes, and you might benefit from reading a little further.

Why running and yoga?

When stuck on a problem, one of the best solutions is to do something physically active. This allows our brains to rest from their mental work and forces us to concentrate on our physical bodies, and it’s an effective solution to facing a mental block for several reasons.

We often develop writing ideas while doing something physical, such as exercising, crafting, or even gardening.

Physical activity offers a mental break from writing or creative activity, letting our subconscious work behind the scenes or just take a break! This is the main reason so many authors, journalists, and creative-minded people say they go for a walk or run while working on a project, and many of them say they get that “Aha!” moment (what I like to call a pop-up toaster solution–when an idea that’s been cooking for a while suddenly pops to the forefront of our consciousness) while in the middle of a run.

TWU’s very own Dr. Jacquelyn Elliott, Interim Director of the First-Year Composition Program, has researched this subject and divides her conclusions into two groups:

1. Generative knowers: people who generate writing ideas when running
2. Restorative knowers: people who use exercise as a “lubricating effect” on the brain, enhancing its work afterward

For those who set out on a run or a walk with the purpose of generating ideas, Dr. Elliott suggests that it’s helpful having a background in meditation to better filter out distractions and let wayward thoughts come and go. This helps generative knowers stay on track and focus completely on the action of creating. However, this shouldn’t stop you from walking and running if you don’t have a background in meditation! Running and walking will still help you sink into another mental state and “clear away the cobwebs”⁴ before you return to your writing.

Vigorous exercise, such as going for a run, a brisk walk, or doing a vinyasa sequence (a faster-paced type of yoga that links movement to the breath) pumps blood to our brains, helping them work more effectively. 

Loudin, a Washington Post contributor and avid runner, writes, “running requires a high level of physical activity; writing calls for a high level of cerebral activity,” and the additional “oxygen-rich” blood going to our brains during exercise boosts brain activity. Finally, if you’re anything like me, you often hunch over your computer for hours while writing and researching. Hunching inevitably block our bodies’ blood circulation. Practicing yoga enables us to stretch and open our backs, chests, and shoulders, improving circulation and our postures.

Have you ever tried to write when you’re stressed? It’s difficult, isn’t it? For those of you who, like me, struggle to write when you’re stressed, here’s how running and yoga can help:

When you run, practice yoga, or engage in another form of exercise, your body releases endorphins and endocannabinoids (feel-good neurotransmitters)

These neurotransmitters naturally boost your mood and alleviate stress by lowering cortisol, the body’s stress hormone. You may have heard of this as “runner’s high.” Yoga also attacks cortisol by increasing dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin hormone production in the body. Yoga and running help us be present in the moment and forces us to not think about the past or the future and “to-do” lists. Simply put, exercise is a natural and extremely effective means of alleviating your stress, freeing up your brain to write!

What’s stopping you? Maybe some of these excuses sound familiar, and here are some solutions:

“I don’t have time.”

Good news! Plenty of YouTubers have at-home yoga workouts you can follow from the comfort of your bedroom. Minimal prep work needed!

Here are some of my favorites:

• Yoga by Candace (Candace Moore is an internationally certified yoga instructor and is the author of the book Namaslay.)
  • Yoga With Adriene (Adriene is a certified yoga instructor based in Texas, and she recently compiled a playlist called Yoga for Uncertain Times that is quite relevant right now. She also has a yoga practice specifically for writers!)
    • Blogilates (Cassey Ho is an award-winning certified fitness and Pilates instructor based in California.)

“I’m not flexible.”

Flexibility takes time, and you don’t need to be crazy flexible to feel a creative rush. Do what you can, listen to your body, and give yourself grace!

“I hate running; it’s the worst, and the only reason in the world I would run is if a hoard of zombies was chasing me.”

No problem! If you hate running, walk! There are plenty of amazing hiking and walking trails in your area. Google some!

“I don’t have the proper equipment or location.”

Running is convenient—all you need is yourself, the outdoors, and some running shoes. As for yoga and Pilates, yoga mats, blocks, and straps are available at Five Below and TJ Maxx for under $10.

“I’m giving myself a ‘day off’” (that then turns into a week off, a month off…)

Give yourself a goal to work toward to motivate you, be it “I’m going to run to the end of the block and back,” “I saw this yoga pose on Instagram and want to learn how to do it,” or something else! And understand that you don’t have to run or do yoga for an hour to help you write—10, 15 minutes is all you need.

The next time you find yourself struggling to write, or if you just want to improve yourself as a writer, lace up those tennis shoes and head outside, or roll out your mat and check out one of those YouTube channels! And when you do, leave a comment below to let us know if this helps you, or share your experience if you can relate!

Happy writing and running!

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References

Burfoot, Amby. “10 Astounding and Evidence-Supported Health Benefits of Running.” Podium Runner. 23 March 2020. https://www.podiumrunner.com/culture/10-amazing-benefits- running-might-not-known/

Burfoot, Amby. “Running, Thinking, and Writing.” Podium Runner. 11 June 2019. 

Elliott, Jacquelyn. Personal Interview. 8 April 2020

Fetters, K. Aleisha and Alison Feller. “12 Amazing Benefits of Running.” Shape. https:// 

www.shape.com/fitness/cardio/11-science-backed-reasons-running-really-good-you

Holiday, Ryan. “The Timeless Link Between Writing and Running and Why it Makes for Better Work.” Mission.org. 23 Jan. 2018. https://medium.com/the-mission/the-timeless-link- between-writing-and-running-and-why-it-makes-for-better-work-5be232e40c2

Loudin, Amanda. “Why writers should take up running — and vice versa.” The Washington Post. 5 Oct. 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/why-writers-should- take-up-running–and-vice-versa/2016/10/04/d9de82a0-8435-11e6-92c2-14b64f3d453f_story.html

Pilz, Kerstin. “Why writing and yoga are the perfect companion practices.” Write Your Journey.