Hello I have registered to this site to ask for help - something we all might be struggling with: Writer's block.
I am currently in the process of writing my dissertation (a non-native English speaker) at a top-5 university in the U.S. Looking at my published work, it would appear that I am an "okay" or maybe even a good writer. At least I get good feedback when people read it. Some even tell me that my prose is very clear, organized. Others go as far as to say that I write well. What they don't know is how much time it takes, how painfully slow it is and how much I hate the process - and myself when doing it.
I don't hate writing in general - posting on various fora, writing emails, putting down my thoughts without any consequence is actually simple and I can keep doing it without much hesitation. As soon as I start writing something related to my "research" and work as an "academic" though, I get stuck. Writing 250 - 500 words in a day is an accomplishment for me! (after 4-5 hours of writing).It usually entails unending editing of the sentences and words I put on paper. I am not able to write three sentences, let alone three paragraphs in one go.
When writing book reviews or small pieces, this is not a problem. Eventually I get it done and sometimes I am even happy with the result. But now, when writing a dissertation, this pace is unacceptable. I will never finish it if I continue like this.
Now I am not exactly sure where the problem is. I've tried to read a few books about writing, and dissertation writing, but have not yet found answers that I am looking for. I would be grateful for a constructive feedback - recommendation on literature that helped you with a similar problem, or your opinion.

This post is well written! My suggestion for you in writing your dissertation is simple: Don't be perfect in your first draft.

My advise is very simple: instead of thinking 'I can't write this', sit down and write. Put your 'thoughts on paper' first and do the editing in the end. Also, don't use convoluted language. Use simple language instead.

hi, I can understand how it feels because i also had writers block! One easy way to unblock is to scribble or write something unrelated to your thesis -- could be a letter to God, a love letter, a poem, an email and something will happen! Start writing :-)

love satchi

Try free-writing for five or ten minutes, where you just have to keep writing without editing or stopping. You might be surprised at some of the ideas you manage to get down in a short space of time, and you can then develop them.

I also find it helps to keep a list of the ideas or arguments I want to cover in my writing, and then it becomes easier to write them up.

If you don't have trouble writing generally, would it help to write as if you were explaining your research on a forum somewhere or writing an email to a colleague? You could get the ideas down in this way and then revise the style later if it needs to be more academic.

When I was stuck, I used to open gmail, write my thoughts about my thesis on my email, and then email the text to myself. It worked miracles - and I had a copy of my work on my account! Someone I know used to write her thoughts about her thesis on a facebook note! lol

I second all the advice given.

It seems like you have a committee in your head, criticizing your words even before they're written and you need to make them shut up.There is a software/platform called Draft (similar to say Google Docs) which has a very cool feature named after Hemingway. It follows his "Write drunk, edit sober" motto and, when this mode is on, you cannot make editions or changes, you just have to WRITE.

Also, I'd recommend the books "How to Write a Lot" and "265 Troubleshooting Strategies for Writing Nonfiction", I've found them very helpful in alleviating my own writing issues. :)