Patience is a Virtue

In every English class I’ve ever taken, I’ve encountered teachers who have taught that in order succeed in writing, you simply have to write. But, the question that always remains with most writers is, “what to write about?” I can recall countless times, during my high school adolescence when a student in class would bravely confess fears of the gawking ambiguity of a blank, white page.

Towards the end of chapter five, Donald Murray illustrates a situation where famous author, Ernest Hemingway, was asked where he did most of his writing - to which, Hemingway responded, "in my head."

Similar to what Murray proposes, I find that the biggest remedy for a person’s ability to get their jumbled thoughts on paper (i.e. writer’s block – or “starter’s” block) is the act of stepping away from the task. At the end of Chapter 5, Murray suggests taking a nap, illustrating that by tapping into the subconscious, one might gather ideas for a paper by, simply, dreaming them up. Another technique that I often use is taking a shower. William Badke labeled it best, stating that we live within a “fog” of information. Given the recent advancements made by cell phone companies, and the World Wide Web, most of all information that we, humans, require is literally at the palms of our hands. Thus, making sense of all of this information in the form of an essay can, often times, be extremely hard; especially, when it comes to research. 

In high school, during my senior year, I had an English teacher who taught me a valuable lesson in writing. That is, she taught against the idea that the hardest part about writing a paper is the introduction. To her, the introduction was the most exciting part – the part where you are able to find out about yourself, as you engage opinions on a particular subject. She, thus, taught that the hardest part in writing a paper is when you hit what she liked to refer to as, “the wall.” Metaphorically speaking, the wall recurs throughout the writing process as the point in which most people run out of ideas, in terms of which direction to take the body of the essay. However, according to my high school teacher, the key to overcoming the wall is time. By taking time to step away from the task you allow your brain to process what has already been written, which is why in many cases, students admit to being able to “think better when they are in the shower.”

Even in this increasingly technological decade into the 21^st century, there are many ways to understanding and interpreting this surplus of data. I find that the key for me, is to take my time and think at my own pace. ~ Tristan Smith