Acknowledges the anxiety of writing and of teaching writing. (JL)

Identifies three types of writer's block. Suggests a model using peer tutors to help blocked students overcome the problem. Discusses diagnostic considerations, tutor qualifications, and the importance of clear communication among the student, teacher, and tutor. Emphasizes the importance of relaxed relations between student and tutor. (PAA)

Argues that the word "creativity" can inhibit students from writing because they feel what they write must be completely new and original. Offers suggestions for helping alleviate writing apprehension such as stream of consciousness writing or free writing. (SRT)

Suggests motivating writing apprehensive students by asking them to "remodel" passages from novels, magazines, or newspapers that have been stripped of details, descriptions, and compound sentences. (HTH)

A research study related undergraduates' apprehensions about writing with their final grade in a composition course, grade point average, and other factors. Found that most A and B students had low apprehension, while D and F students had high apprehension. Implications for teaching writing are discussed. (CJM)

Describes the writing apprehension and difficulty encountered by a teacher participating in a writing institute. Includes a copy of her final essay and some reflections on what the experience and institute taught her. (HTH)

Examines materials in the ERIC database on the characteristics of the reluctant writer, the effect of apprehension on writing performance, and teaching strategies to encourage writing proficiency. (HTH)

Presents 11 strategies writing teachers can use to alleviate writing apprehension and to encourage student writers to feel confident about revealing their thoughts in writing. (SR)

Suggests having basic writers complete a writing apprehension measure at the beginning and end of the term. Argues that students' responses can help teachers identify problems at the beginning of the term and help students evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses as writers at the end of the term. (RS)

Investigates the effect on postsecondary students of the belief that writing ability is a gift. Finds that higher levels of belief in giftedness correlate with higher levels of writing apprehension, lower self-assessments of writing ability, and lower levels of confidence. Suggests that the belief in giftedness may have deleterious effects on…

Explores the relationship between mathematics instruction and writing instruction, particularly their similarity in causing student anxiety. Offers specific teaching methods for reducing writing anxiety. (HB)

Writing exercises are games that can lead to success in the classroom because they are artificial and have arbitrary rules defined by the instructor. By giving students a starting point, a limited task, and the assurance that the writing is, after all, "just a game," exercises can circumvent students' initial anxieties about self-presentation and…

The Attitude Toward Writing Inventory, is a simple, Likert-type instrument designed to assess students' positive, neutral, or negative attitudes toward writing. This instrument helps to identify the negative attitudes which must be changed before an instructional method can be effective. (CB)

Presents a self-report questionnaire designed as a means of measuring writing apprehension in technical writing students. Explains how to administer, score, and evaluate the results of the questionnaire. (FL)

Shares a conversation between a second-grade student and teacher during a prewriting conference. Emphasizes that, in order to become writers, students need to do their own writing. (MG)