Writer's Block

My favorite essay so far in 501 has been "The Essential Delay: When Writer's Block Isn't" by Donald Murray. He says that "each writer fears that writing will never come, yet the experienced writer knows it may take days, weeks, and months to produce a few hours of text production" (716). Spoken like someone who hasn't had a deadline! But I understand the gist of his argument.

Still, I have days when I feel the pangs of doubt, and I spend them wondering if I'm a talentless hack because the words won't come on command (like today, for example). On these days, I think of the writers from past generations who used drugs to breach the divide in their mind, and I wonder if I know anyone who can get me some opium! Of course, I'm just kidding here, but the point is that even though I've been writing since I was six, an experienced writer (I think), I have days when I feel completely and utterly worthless, and depressingly anxious because I can't do what I was made to do. Murray cites quotes from very famous writers on the matter, and while they are inspiring words, they are also disheartening. It's as if, because I don't have these similar insights about writing, I'm nothing more than a rank amateur.

In some ways, I feel like Maria, the student cited as an example in "Remediation as Social Construct." Like her, I was born into a life of English studies. But I have Asperger's, so not only is it hard for me to interpret social cues, I have trouble thinking of appropriate things to say in a situation and therefore I am not as well-spoken as some of my classmates. But I can easily discern annoyance, so I can tell when people are agitated with my speaking shortcomings. Knowing this about myself, it's hard to turn to teachers, friends, and family for writing advice. I remember my undergraduate adviser, David Keplinger, always patiently dealt with my neurotic episodes of writing insecurity, but I could tell sometimes that he was secretly annoyed with me for needing help.

I don't feel like teachers can, as Murray did, cite famous authors and hope that their inspirational words help students through their writing struggles. I also think that teachers must be aware of how much they really say without uttering a word. I think the saddest aspect of "Remediation as Social Construct" was that the teacher, June, had no idea she was killing Maria's love of writing by projecting her annoyance with the girl's shortcomings to the class with her body language and tone of voice. How many great writers have been lost to the world because of teachers like that? I think good teachers are there to help the student work through the struggles such as writer's block.

Hull, Glynda, Mike Rose, Kay Losey Fraser, Marisa Castellano. "Remediation as Social Construct: Perspectives from an Analysis of Classroom Discourse." The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. 1059-1080. Print.

Murray, Donald M. "The Essential Delay: When Writer's Block Isn't." The Norton Book of Composition Studies. Ed. Susan Miller. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2009. 1059-1080. Print.