Composition Block: When Ideas Won't Become Sentences

You know exactly what you want to say. When someone asks, you can explain it perfectly. But when you sit down to write, the words won't come.

This is a translation bottleneck—a mechanical failure in converting thought to text. Keystroke research reveals long pauses between sentences (5+ seconds) followed by normal fluency once writing begins.

What Is Composition Block?

Composition blocks occur at the translation stage—converting ideas into written sentences. This affects stage 2 of Hayes and Flower's 3-stage model (Planning → Translation → Revision).

Behavioral Signature

• Long pauses (5+ seconds) between sentences
• Normal typing speed once sentence begins
• Fluent "language bursts" within sentences
• Minimal deletion or revision while writing

Prevalence: Approximately 40% of writers report translation difficulty, most common in early-career writers, second-language writers, and unfamiliar genres.

Why Translation Is Hard

During sentence construction, writers simultaneously manage:

1. Semantic content (meaning)
2. Syntactic structure (grammar)
3. Lexical selection (word choice)
4. Audience considerations (formality, clarity, tone)
5. Genre conventions (style requirements)
6. Discourse coherence (connections between sentences)

Working memory capacity is approximately 7±2 items. When demands exceed capacity, the process breaks down.

Evidence-Based Interventions

Tier 1: Strong Evidence

Implementation:

1. Choose tool (phone app, computer software, unstoppable.ink)
2. Prepare brief outline
3. Record explanation as if telling a friend
4. Don't worry about perfect grammar—speak conversationally
5. Transcribe automatically
6. Edit transcript in separate session (2-4 hours later or next day)

Tier 2: Moderate Evidence

• Write as Email or Letter: Email register is more conversational, reducing formality-related working memory load
• Multiple Short Sessions: 20-minute drafting → 10-minute break format prevents exhaustion-related slowdown

What Doesn't Work

• "Outline more thoroughly" — Translation capacity determines fluency
• "Read more to build vocabulary" — Long-term strategy for acute problem
• "Take a break and come back fresh" — Rest addresses fatigue, not translation mechanism
• "Just start writing" — Bypasses need to address mechanism

8-Week Implementation Protocol

Week 1: Diagnosis Confirmation

Track pause patterns during 3 writing sessions. Verify longest pauses are between sentences and verbal output is 2-3x higher than written.

Week 2: Try Voice-to-Text

Test whether bypassing transcription improves productivity. Compare dictating vs. typing.

Week 3: Oral Rehearsal + Simplified Sentences

Speak idea aloud for 5 minutes before writing. Enforce simple sentence structure during drafting.

Week 4: Multiple Short Sessions

Implement 20-minute sessions with 10-minute breaks. Track within-session patterns.

Weeks 5-8: Optimize and Build Habit

Find personal optimal strategy and make it automatic. Target 30-50% improvement from Week 5 baseline.