Putting Words on the Page

Nothing generates text except writing. If you’re thinking, reading, brainstorming, diagramming, etc., you’re not creating text. At some point, you must stop planning and start writing.

TIPS:

  • Set aside a block of time in which you will only write.
    • Eliminate as many distractions as is possible/realistic.
    • For example, tell yourself you have thirty minutes to write on the methods section of your paper. Then do it.
  • If your assignment requires multiple sections, begin by writing section headings in the place where each section will go.
    • It often helps to include some notes about what goes in each section.
    • Once you have completed the section, remove the heading if necessary.
  • You can write the introduction last! You can begin in the middle!
    • If you don’t know where to begin, write where you have the most to say.
    • Be sure to mark the incomplete sections of your paper so you can go back and finish them.
  • Try to develop a flow as you write.
    • Correcting your writing sentence by sentence as you compose can slow your flow of ideas and text.
    • You will be revising anyway, so why edit a sentence that might be cut in your next draft? You definitely have better things to do.

Writer’s Block:

If you are experiencing writer’s block, it can be comforting to know that you are not alone. These websites offer helpful advice on overcoming your writer’s block and understanding why you might develop writer’s block in the first place.