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A Thinker’s Workaround to Conquering Writer’s Block

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Start with the Big Picture or with the Details

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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
If you think Liz can help with a problem you’re having with your writing, check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

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How Do You Balance the Insecurity and Confidence to Write on the Internet?

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Powerful Writers Are Insecure Too

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Every writer is an interesting juxtaposition of confidence and insecurity. We really need both. Without the confidence the words would never make it together. Without the insecurity, the writing would come second to deciding how we’re going to spend our money from the fabulous words we write down.

Get the balance right, and you have fear and boldness, without “perfection paranoia.” The fear is born in the insecurity. The boldness is the confidence that keeps paranoia away.

When our thoughts are on concrete, we wrap the two of them −- insecurity and confidence — in a satchel of hope. We set them down gently in the faith of the language and carry them as a shield and a sword.

But when our thoughts are on sand . . . we have trouble balancing. We wonder if our intelligence could be coming from a fool’s heart. The shield of insecurity melts the power of our words. The sword of our confidence bends at uncertain thoughts.

That balance between insecurity and confidence is how the good writing ideas come and flow. Here’s what I tell myself when I want to balance my insecurity and confidence . . .

  • Turn off the noise of the Internet for a short while.
  • Know what you want to say. Relax and reflect until you are clear about it.
  • Write with head, heart, and purpose all focused on the truth of that message.
  • Write in your own voice to friends who don’t know yet what you’re going to tell them.
  • After it’s written, read and listen to be sure it’s inviting and there’s room for others to join in.
  • Trust yourself and the people who read what you write.

I follow my advice, and I publish again.

How do you balance the insecurity and confidence of writing to publish on the Internet?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Need help with writing? Work with Liz!!
SOBCon08 is May 2,3,4 in Chicago. All of that expertise in one room! Register now!

How to Write Intelligently from the Heart

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From the Heart

Words tell us how to . . . how to be beautiful, how to fall in love, how to make money by working online. Words try to move us to be happier, be greener, be more active in someone’s cause. Words us connect with each other. Words appraise us, explain us, and help us describe who we are. Words are how we find out what we need to know.

Yet there are far more words to read than there is time.

We can think and write. We can craft our sentences to be clever. We can make sure that each part is factually, structurally, gramatically correct. But clever and accurate only go so far in satisfying readers. If we want our writing to resonate long after, our words need to come from the heart.

How to Write Intelligently from the Heart

Intelligent heartfelt writing is respectful. It serves minds and hearts. It strikes a balance of logical thinking in the context of meaningful words. Here are some tips on how to bring together the best of your head and your heart when you write.

  • Know you want to say Distill your message down to one sentence.
  • Decide why you care about it. If you don’t care about what you’re saying, why should I?
  • Use simple words to describe your experience or argument. Choose words that you would actually say.
  • Write for an audience you respect and care about. Love your dissenters and detractors. Doing so will give your writing life and depth.
  • Write the whole piece entirely before you edit. A message from the heart still being formed won’t survive the scrutiny of a brain.
  • Revise it twice. Read once for logic and sense of what you’re saying. Read a second time — this time aloud — for the tone, voice, and words you’re using to say it.
  • Be willing to put yourself into what you write. Be authentically you. Show us what you see.

Writers who capture our attention share the experience of who they are. They connect with our minds and with our hearts. Great writers blend information, thoughts, and opinions with a light touch of humanity. It’s the in the humanity that we see ourselves. Head and heart together in writing for love, for business, for education, for any purpose make meaning in a way that intelligent words alone cannot.

Heart on the water

It’s the heart of light in this photo that makes this one sunset unforgettable.

How do you recognize someone who writes with heart?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think Liz can help with a problem you’re having with your writing, check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

10 Sure-Fire Ways to Stop Making Writing So Hard

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Why Do We Make Writing Harder Than It Needs to Be?

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It’s amazing how often we undercut our own progress, cause a power failure, make things hard on ourselves. We set up roadblocks and wonder why the path is hard to travel. We take the long way home, because we fear the easy way. We shoot ourselves in the foot, and we don’t know that we’re doing it.

In training writers, I’ve seen people talk themselves out of writing in so many ways. Most are easy to stop if you know that you’re doing them. If you think you might be making things harder than they need to be. Hang on. I’ve got the list for you. [Read more…]