When you have to write a long or demanding essay that you can’t finish in one sitting, you may return to it only to find yourself stalled. You crank your starter and nothing happens. Your engine seems reluctant to turn over. Try the following suggestions for getting back on the road.
Leave Hints for How to Continue. If you’re ready to quit, jot down what might come next or the first sentence of the next section. When you return, you will face not a blank wall but rich and suggestive graffiti.
Pause in Midstream. Try breaking off in midsentence or midparagraph. Just leave a sentence trailing off into space, even if you know its closing words. When you return, you can start writing again immediately.
Repeat. If the next sentence refuses to appear, simply recopy the last one until that shy creature emerges on the page.
Reread. When you return to work, spend a few minutes rereading what you have already written or what you have planned.
Switch Instruments. Do you compose on a laptop? Try longhand. Or drop your pen to type. Write on note cards or colored paper.
Change Activities. When words won’t come, turn to something quite different. Run, cook a meal, or nap. Or reward yourself—after you reach a certain point—with a call to a friend or a game. All the while, your unconscious mind will work on your writing task.