Conquering "The Swamp of Sadness"

The Thesis Whisperer is blog that dedicates its time to discussing the process of writing a thesis. Although you may be thinking, “um, I’m not going to have to write a real thesis for at least a year from now. Why should I care?” We can ALL relate to that moment when you’re writing a paper or doing a project and all of the sudden you hit a wall – a wall that turns into a “swamp of sadness”.

There’s not a worse feeling in the world of academics. Maybe this sudden screech in our creative gears can be allotted to pushing off your work until you have no time to think it through? The Writing Center at Georgetown University suggests that the taunting white screen before you have been able to get words down is all it takes to break you before you've started. Simply typing words or phrases out on the screen can possibly eliminate this anxiety and get your creativity flowing again (Pitts and Bennett, 2011).

Thesis Whisper, Anitra Nottingham, outlines this struggle in a beautiful parallel of The Never-ending Story, a personal childhood favorite. She also provides some insight into the resolution of this phenomenon.

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Check out her post on thesiswhisperer.com, or use this direct link to the article https://thesiswhisperer.com/2016/10/05/the-swamp-of-sadness/

Pitts, M., & Bennett, J. (2011, January 1). Georgetown University Law Center. Just Do It: Tips for Avoiding Procrastination, 1-7. doi:10.1163/1570-6664_iyb_sim_org_40428