Writer's Block Revisited: A Micro-Phenomenological Case Study on the Blocking Influence of an Internalized Voice

Writer's block, a common form of procrastination, can have a serious negative impact on an individual's academic performance. In this case study, a student with writer's block was interviewed and asked to perform body movements that represented the process of writing a master's thesis. A micro-phenomenological method was used to investigate the student's experience of writer's block and the role of an inner voice. The analysis unveiled the process by which the inner voice impeded the student, i.e. how the student perceived a set of mental images, movements, and sensations in relation to the 'inner voice'. The findings suggest that non-verbal modes of learning -- through movement -- may be applied productively to overcome writer's block and other forms of procrastination in broader areas such as research writing. Moreover, the micro-phenomenological method, together with the interpretation of video recordings, can reveal valuable information regarding this learning process in higher education.