I enjoyed reading about blocking because when I used to write, this was a frequent problem!
I never tried free-writing as a possible cure, so that's going to be the first thing I'll try next time I'm feeling blocked.
This also resonated with me, "We often set unreasonable standards for the quantity and quality of our own productivity" (84). Yes - this is a problem. I'm a perfectionist, and I guess also an idealist in thinking that I can meet all of these unreasonable standards I set for myself.
Also, I liked Boice's discussion on spontaneity, "the reasons why most of us cannot count on unplanned spontaneity for our writing: It hasn't worked well or often enough" (86). This was exactly how I used to write almost all of the time, especially when I wrote for pleasure. I just wrote when the mood struck, it was entirely spontaneous. I'd have a wild dream and I'd go to make it into a story. I do this less so with academic writing, especially this past year, I've gotten better at completing assignments a few days before the deadline.
Regarding the blocking tendencies and the blocking questionnaire, I found them all to be interesting, and could tell I probably would score high in certain areas more than others, such as perfectionism. However, I'm having trouble interpreting the results. I'm worried I somehow did my math wrong or something. My numbers seem awfully high, but I rarely had 10s or 8s even. Most of what I circled was in a range between 3-6. Maybe we can go over this in class?
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