On Fear of Writing

I'm sure every academic, young and old, has faced something similiar on a number of occasions. You've collected the material, sorted the bad from the good and have finally opened up Microsoft Word. You have a good idea of what you want to say - you just can't bring yourself to write it. For some, these inhibitions stop once you've begun writing. For many others, including myself, each sentence you write requires Herculean effort.

For me, at least, the cause is fear. Fear of the unknown - or fear of what the Professor will say. Will I miss something critical? Is he checking it on a bad day? Will I be penalized for handing in the paper very late (due mostly to this fear) or not? Did I check enough sources? Is my paper too long or too short? If I get a bad grade, how will I salvage my average?

I know this sounds petty. After all, lots of people in Israel can't go to sleep at night from all the rockets raining down on them and here I am complaining about not being able to write a paper that no-one but myself and my Professor will read.

Still, this is my chosen profession (for now, anyway), and I would like to know - does anybody out there have any advice?