Have you ever sat down to write a paper but got stuck barely half way down the paper? This was my experience. But this is not to say that you cannot do anything about that: READ.

1. I’M STUCK: WRITING
I am stuck. I mumbled these three words over and over before shutting the computer crudely and
slapping the screen flat. I was tired of trying to coin words for an essay question that I barely understood
what it required. Before that essay, I was an Olympic diver or at least I thought I was one. I had been
congratulated many a times for penning enthralling heart-touching poems. My posts had received many
a likes. I was on the verge of self-publishing a novel. My manuscript was coming out just nicely. I could
churn out professional and personal essays that were sitting at my table, internet, or hard drive. So, I
was on top.
But here was an essay that made me ask myself: Can I write? Not tangibly. Not literally. Not technically. I
was already doing that. Rather, the question was, can I make the words warble? Does my prose have
that sensible thing to speak to readers? Am I exceptional at presenting not narrating, or narrating not
presenting, or designing an entire cosmos that wasn’t there before for purposes of enthralling and
sweeping readers off their feet?
So why was I getting stuck and hard pressed for ideas if I am a good writer. Suddenly, it dawned on me
that a good essay idea or prompt isn’t the be-all end-all idea. So, I resorted to pushing on. But I wasn’t
going to go back to the computer just yet. Instead, I dug into a few lazily thrown magazines and read
almost everything in them whether interesting, relevant, long, short, well-written, or not. All the while,
ideas kept crossing my mind. Trains of thoughts, I may say, filled my mind. Then, I took a nap –

2. healthynap. When I woke up, I did so with a start, and my fingers were itching to meet the keyboard to
write continue with the story from where I had left it.