HELPFUL LINKS
WRITER'S BLOCK?
If you allow yourself the true freedom to do so, you may find yourself quite ready to write. Relax into the assignments and you never know what will come to mind. Writing can be a mystery and as often it should be a joy to write!
Most writers block on the notion that they must fulfill someone else's expectations. This is essay writing but it is also a course in saying what you mean. You don't have to write "Essay." Just write in direct, clear English!
This course requires you to follow a set outline. That may drive a some of you crazy! Why not write for yourself, first. Write the way you are most comfortable. Later, you can revise the heck out of your work--to follow form and adhere to whatever rules.
There are lessons on how to read and understand poetry for the first paper. You can check them out at: http://www.poetrydoctor.org/freelessons.htm I particularly recommend these three:
How
to understand poetry.|
| Try
your hand at explication.
| Explicating
a short poem.
| |
If you don't know what topic to pick for your second essay, read this short link that may help you think of something: Picking a Topic
If you are just blocked, short of taking verbal Ex-lax...
Try one of these:
1. For writing, more generally, find a place where you can sit, comfortably and uninterrupted, for a period of time. Keep your writing tools handy so you can write if something comes to you. Allow your thoughts to drift. See if you can pick one moment, one scene, one thing to visualize. Build the picture, whatever it is, without judgment or self-censorship! When you can see the scene clearly, write what you have pictured. The exercise asks you to "free associate." The joy is in seeing what pops into your mind. The writing will capture that.
2. For analysis, persuasion, make lists of both sides--for and against--so you can combine ideas into the one, best reason to take a clear side on an issue. Even try writing at least a brief argument against the side you favor.
2. For your personal essay--"Turning-point"--and even
for the personal examples you will use (in place of outside sources) when you
first write your persuasive essay: Just describe! If your reader can
picture what you mean, you have them under your control! They are already seeing
the world the way you want them to see it! Describe the scene you see in detail, engaging all of your senses. Work on
color, texture, sounds, temperature, perhaps the tastes, even odor/aroma! Most
of all, work on painting something others could picture if they read what you
see. Description is as often the better part of what we call good writing. You are a portrait painter, a landscaper, a
still-life artist, only here you paint with words.
If you still are blocked, be sure to contact me! axelrodthepoet@yahool.com