Start with the Big Picture or with the Details
In my work with writers, being frozen at the blank screen seems to be the most common concern. We call it “writer’s block,” but it’s really “thinker’s block” — we can think of what we want to say. The worst is when we have an idea, but can’t think of how to get started.
To conquer writer’s block, start with how you arrange your thoughts.
Do you go from big picture to the details or do you use the details to build your big picture? Pick the one that’s you and then use it to work around to a new idea.
Starting with the Big Picture
Top-down thinkers think in big chunks. We don’t do well just writing to fill a page. Try this to defeat that white screen.
- Start with a plan. Use a mindmap or a graphic organizer. It might be three stacked boxes that you organize like a menu –Appetizer — Entree — Dessert.
- Fill in the main concept — the entree — first. Decide what you want to say. Write your concept in one sentence. Then record the main points you want to include about that concept. Look over what you have, give it some order, but don’t write yet.
- Pick one compelling detail from the above step. Make that detail the appetizer. Decide how you’ll highlight that detail in the introduction. Will you describe the detail or tell a story about it? Use the detail to give readers a reason to read.
- For dessert, think of how you will sum up what you’ve said. Will you circle back to how you started? Will you call readers to action? Will you repeat the main points of the article? The goal for the conclusion is reader satisfaction.
Finish off the blank screen like a three-course meal.
Building from the Detail
Bottom up thinkers build thought by thought. If you’re the kind who finds it easier to write an outline after the article is done, try this instead.
- Relax. Reflect. Think of your concept and choose one detail. Start writing about it. Write for at least 10 minutes. Write longer if you can. Then print out what you’ve written.
- Read over what you’ve got, group together details about the same idea. Describe each group of details with a sentence.
- Choose one compelling detail that you find attention-getting. Write an introduction around that detail to get readers to want to keep reading.
- Weave the most meaningful details of the piece together to make the main content. Then feature one detail — you might repeat the one you used to introduce the piece — by using it to ask a final question or make a final statement that will stay with readers long after they finish reading.
A writer’s goal is a thought that moves readers in some way.
We get there through our own process.
Do you go top-down, bottom-up, or do you have a way in of your own?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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hi Liz, I guess whatever works for each of us is the right way to go. For me…
I tend to look at the final point, i.e. what is the lesson of my post and work backwards from there and along the way, trying to find interesting ways to illustrate my point(s).
Because I’m also a graphic/blog designer my posts tend to be filled with lots of eye candy but it’s always relevant to what I’m trying to say.
Sometimes that sets me off in a new direction altogether but in the end, it usually works out somehow. 😉
This was so good I had to read this in two parts. In part because my head hurts. (Too much thinking maybe?)
To answer your question, it depends on what I’m writing. If it’s something creative, I start with the last sentence. Almost always. I’m a freak like that. Then I start at the first sentence and just sorta go with the flow till I get there.
For corporate workstuffs? Whole other process. It hurts my brain a lot, this other process. But it’s kinda like what you described up there. I’m not big on eating, so I don’t think of it like Appetizer ââ¬â Entree ââ¬â Dessert (although I probably will now, because you have a way of getting stuff stuck in my head!) but it’s a similar three part thingy.
This will probably sound morbid, but I swear it’s not. I think skeleton, guts, skin. Bones first, then the important stuff, then the skin to make it shiny. (Bad part: I don’t do hair, so in my analogy I guess my guy is always bald?)
I’m kind of a mood-driven blogger. A lot of times I write best when I’m in a happy-silly mood, as I do aim to keep things light and bright on my blog (except the poems which usually tend to examine darker things.
I also find my pieces that flow out quickly read best while the ones I tweak and tweak usually ends up feeling strained.
You mean there’s more than one way to do it? (light bulb lights up)
Very rarely does the “outline” method work for me. And for the longest time I let that slow me down as a writer. Because I couldn’t do it, I thought I wasn’t able to write.
But the “bottom up” method is exactly what unlocked my creativity! Once I realized that’s what works for me – then the floodgates seemed to fly open! What a relief to know it’s really a valid technique!
Often I find the blockage to stem from an emotional place. If I give myself to the emotion that is demanding my attention (and I’m often avoiding), I tend to find a new content stream in the midst of my resistance.
Hi Marti,
I often us pictures to inspire me. Then I go top down to my thoughts. I’m not very good at walking in straight lines for very long. 🙂
Hi Amy,
Where you think skeletons, I think high-rise buildings frameworks, floors, rooms, then walls and furniture, but it’s the same thing. 🙂
Jannie,
I know what you mean. I call those the ones written with the magic pen in my head. 😉
Hi Richard,
I guess I do that, but in a different way, I walk around until I find the word that I’m looking for. 🙂
ill have myself a nice workplace… in front of a relaxing scenery might help getting the job done better
From big picture to details or vice versa? That’s a great concept. I never really stopped to think that it could be done either way!
I suppose I alternate these two approaches depending on my mood for the day, or the difficulty of the task. Sometimes when I have a great idea I need to break it down into smaller points and write for each one separately.
Other times it is useful to just start writing and then re-analyze it later and sometimes re-write it from the details again.
This post of yours has helped me to realize the difference. Thanks. Glad I found your blog today.
Gregory Allan
Great post, Liz. Thanks for sharing. I’m a start with the big picture kinda gal. At times it can be overwhelming because there are so many faucets that go into the big picture. Once I get started writing, I realize that I could write a novel so I scale down. Well than wouldn’t ya know, the bits and pieces lessen my grandiose initial vision. Now I use action verbs to spice it up and a brainstorming technique similar to yours.
All the best,
Sally Strebel
@BizGirl