This week’s question is from A.M.:
What strategies can you suggest for someone who is stuck when writing, say a thesis or a dissertation? Two people dear to me have essentially withdrawn from society, apparently unable to deal with the ego strain of finishing this last piece of the degree. Any thoughts?
And here’s my answer:
[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/w?v=bjcf95c083E]
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The People's Therapist 
While I don’t wish ill upon anyone, I must say thank goodness for people such as A.M.’s stuck friends. As a freelance writer, my business model depends on them.
As a matter of fact, I regard what I offer as more time management than ghostwriting or editing. Because what I sell is Let me get that off your to-do list. It’s much easier than inviting ego into the mix by making claims about quality.
Anyway, thanks for another great post!
DOUG
PS: Here are a couple posts related to writer’s block, including one featuring the prolific mystery writer, Sue Grafton: http://doug-stern.com/blog/2010/03/24/writers-block-and-shadow/ and http://doug-stern.com/blog/2010/02/17/a-cure-for-writers-block-2/. Enjoy!
hi. been a long time reader. was wondering if there was a reason why you respond to some questions via video? id much rather prefer to read the answer than have to watch a video for it.
just one person’s opinion…
thanks.
Actually, I really like both the video and written responses. They are two different media and each communicates in a different way. But both can be effective.
I also liked this response a lot. You have a very generous, open-minded, honest way of approaching these questions. Keep up the good work!
This was posted a while ago but very interesting.
One thing you didn’t mention and which I have found to be a very common reason for procrastination (especially when it comes to academic studies) is fear.
It could be fear of failure, fear of what happens if you do badly, fear of putting yourself out there and others (in this case the lecturer or professor) just not agreeing with you and failing you or just disagreeing with you. It could also be fear of what would happen if you do well, sometimes doing well means that you’re going into a new path/ a new job and that can be scary.
I don’t know whether fear goes into the category of “not want” but I think it could be a reason for procrastination.