When do these negative feelings arise?

Although there is a great deal of variation among individuals, there are also some common experiences that writers in general find stressful.

For example, you may struggle when you are:

* adjusting to a new form of writing—for example, first year college writing, papers in a new field of study, or longer forms than you are used to (a long research paper, a senior thesis, a master's thesis, a dissertation) (Hjortshoj 56-76).
* writing for a reader or readers who have been overly critical or demanding in the past.
* remembering negative criticism received in the past—even if the reader who criticized your work won't be reading your writing this time.
* working with limited time or with a lot of unstructured time.
* responding to an assignment that seems unrelated to academic or life goals.
* dealing with troubling events outside of school.