Student story- Breaking the Block

By Anne-Marie Albracht

Sitting in a rigid desk chair, Nikki Koppers, junior at Notre Dame de Sion, stared at the glaring white Microsoft Word document in front of her. Draining the last of her fizzy Dr. Pepper she put forth a last ditch attempt to stimulate the few active brain cells left in her body.

The blinking cursor flashed in front of her, back and forth, seeming to mock her complete lack of insight. Koppers rolled her eyes and tugged at her ponytail persistently as if the answer to her problems could somehow be found within the strands of her strawberry blonde hair.

She searched desperately for words.

To feel.

To be inspired.

Or at least to fill the obnoxiously blank screen in front of her.

Nikki was just one many students at the Flint Hills Publication Workshop who fought writers block this week. Some students have found their own ways to combat the evil sickness and let loose.

Jordan Priddle, a senior at Manhattan High School, stays up into the dead of night, holed up in her bedroom with only a pair of fuzzy slippers and black coffee to keep her company. She logs off Facebook, places her cell phone safely out of reach and puts all tweeting on hold.

Meredith Morris and Kelsey Keller, seniors at Goddard High School, prefer to work smack dab in the middle of the household — seated at the kitchen table where there is room to pace between various pieces of furniture as they listen to “chill” music and Myspace friends about the weekend’s upcoming events.

But there are a few methods that go beyond the slightly unusual and into the realm of one-of-a-kind.

“I have this creative thinking pencil that I always use to brainstorm when I begin a story,” said Beth Fentress, a sophomore at Bartlesville High School, pushing up her thin wiry glasses. “I use it more out of tradition now. It has sentimental value.”

Today, the pencil looks a lot different than it did the day Fentress picked it up at Staples. Its original plain white surface has been almost completely concealed by a random web of squiggly lines in bold shades of Crayola marker.

The pencil has now been shaved down to half its original size and Fentress admits that in all actuality, it has a very minimal effect on her writing. But the sentiment surpasses the practicality and if it helps her get the job done as she uses it to brainstorm, it’s worth the effort, she said.

Hard logic to argue against when writers block hits.

Anne-Marie Albracht is a junior at Notre Dame de Sion and a student in the advanced writers class at the Flint Hills Publication Workshop.