The nagging feeling of having no new ideas, coupled with excessive distractions like TV, Twitter and food are the different symptoms of writer’s block, which most students can probably relate to. It’s either the inner critic, constantly yelling through the crevices of our minds telling us to trash the new idea we just came up with, or our phone taking attention away from our current dilemma.

Aside from the distractions, writer’s block has without a doubt tormented all students at some point in their writing careers. There is nothing worse than looking at a blank page and having nothing to put on it.

Forget all the notions of free writing, brainstorming and outlining. These work well when time is on your side. When an essay or article due and we decide to wait until 11 p.m. the night before to write it, both our writer’s block and creativity are put to the most rigorous of tests.

Furthermore, because we’re all guilty of procrastination, the writing process becomes a little interesting when a deadline is hours away. Our behavior ranges from getting more coffee to walking around in order to relieve the anxiety of having only written three sentences.

The inner critic becomes a motivator because we have no time to really listen to our thoughts. Instead, we sometimes find ourselves writing without stopping and not caring about what we’ve written until we’re done.

This is the interesting part of procrastination. Though unprepared and irresponsible, doing an essay the prior night shows us what we’re capable of under extreme pressure. Whether it’s complete BS, or you actually tried to write something of substance, writing like you’re life depends on it the next morning is simply exhilarating.

Even though we might regret it the next day, or even worse, fail to wake up for class in the morning, the experience of writing under pressure has a chance to give us another perspective on our own writing. If the same motivation is applied maybe a week or so earlier, then positive results are more likely when any piece of writing is due.

I assume it’s the channeling of all the stressful energy into our paper that makes writing the night before seem so crazed and exhilarating. If saner heads prevail, it’s best to begin our writing early regardless of what’s blocking us from our ideas. When it comes to the art of writing, time, as well as coffee, are inarguably necessary for success.