writers-block Archives - Page 3 of 4

Writer’s Block: Unblanking the Blank Screen

January 30, 2007 by Liz 33 Comments

Why the Blank Screen Is Scary

Ah, the blank screen.

The blank screen. It’s an invitation to look foolish, to be boring, to write something that we’ll regret. Some of us can use the blank screen to scare the proverbial pants off ourselves imagining how badly we might screw things up.

The blank screen reminds us that our thoughts will be there for the world to see.

A famous Guindon Cartoon said it better.

Writing is nature’s way of letting you know how sloppy your thinking is.

Fear of a blank screen, writer’s block, really is — a subtle fear of exposure — fear that people will see things in our thoughts.

Combine that fear with the idea of marring a pure and perfect white screen, and a writer can get totally ‘whelmed. (Who needs to be overwhelmed? Feeling ‘whelmed is quite big enough for me, thank you.)

It helps to know what we’re up against.

Unblanking the Blank Screen

The key to unblanking the scary blank screen is getting something on it we want to say. Some writers can type until they know what that is. I’m not one of them.

I find freewriting visually stressful. When I do that, all I see is a blank screen getting messier and messier. All I feel is me getting more and more distracted by the problem that I don’t know what I want to write.

What I do instead is look away from the menace of the vast white space. I get up and hunt down one sentence — only one — one sentence that says something I want to say. I use questions like these to help me.

What something have I learned or learned about lately?
What news have I heard that I’d enjoy adding my point of view to?
What have I read that I might want to recommend?
What pithy comment was left on my blog this week? How might I respond?
What pattern, behavior, trend have I noticed?
What question do I have that I want answered?
What skill or a technique might I teach?
What argument might I give the pro/con to?
What lesson have I learned this week? What funny story can I share?
What pet peeve or problem have I got a solution to?

The possible questions are unlimited, of course. I start with these, and look through books, cabinets and drawers, and the refrigerator while I’m thinking. The moving around and looking helps my brain unfreeze.

It’s not long before a sentence warms up to me.

I go back to my computer, and I write that sentence across the screen.

The screen is not blank anymore. I’m no longer distracted by its emptiness.

Now I can get to writing.

That sentence? It often becomes my headline. When it’s not, it’s usually my last line. Can you tell which one it is this time?

What questions would you ask to help folks unblank the blank screen?

UPDATE: IF you don’t read Joe’s post Liz Had My Idea Before Me, you’ll be missing a clever and entertaining blogger’s post.

–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.

Working in the Wrong Order OR How to Stop Building a Writer’s Block

October 17, 2006 by Liz Leave a Comment

Melissa’s Story

Her name is Melissa. Her resume came in a stack of 150 resumes. She was my only interview. She had it on paper — an top-notch education in Instructional Design — and proved it in person — intelligence, enthusiasm, and willingness to learn. Melissa was a perfect match for the entry-level editor’s job I had to offer. She lived up to it ever day and became a dynamite writer and editor.

While Melissa was training, she and I would meet weekly. When we got to month three, she came in with a problem. “I just can’t get my writing done.” she said. “I get myself and my workspace ready, and then I’m stuck with nothing.”

I asked her to tell me about her day.

Her description wasn’t surprising.

Melissa was working in the wrong order.

Very often without realizing, we send the muse packing. We build our own writer’s block instead — simply by how we order our day.

After a short conversation, Melissa solved her problem. She made one change and never had an issue with getting stuck again.

[Read more…]

Bad Boys: You’re Losing Your Memory

July 21, 2006 by Liz 17 Comments

What Was I Going to Say?

I’m ready to write something and as I sit at the keys, it’s gone. It was a spectacular idea. I know it was. Damn. It’s the second time this week, or is it the third? Suddenly I’m forgetting things — things that I’ve never forgotten before.

I used to be known for this memory of mine. Some folks even steered clear of it, feared it. They knew it could track details for decades and offer them back at lightning speed. Now what? A brain of mush has moved in where the razor sharp memory was. . . .

-Stop-

That’s the voice of a Bad Boy of Business. Bad Boys are negative messages, bad tape recordings, in our heads. Bad boys are ideas that we tell ourselves that undercut our success and productivity.

The bad boy here is “You’re losing you’re memory.”

What’s happening? [Read more…]

Bad Boys: You’re a Fraud, a Fake, a Phony

July 14, 2006 by Liz 13 Comments

New Job, New Career, Finally On Your Own

We land a new position, change careers, or finally take the plunge and start that business of our own that we’ve always thought about and for the first few weeks, few months we’re sailing. Enthusiastic beginner they call it. Even though we’re not beginners. It’s the newness. Everything’s shiny. Then, it’s not.

A Bad Boy roars into our thnking. Bad Boys are negative messages, bad tape recordings, in our heads. They’re things we tell ourselves that undercut our success and productivity.

The bad boy here is “You’re a Fraud, a Fake, a Phony.”

Sound outrageous? I’ve seen it happen. I’ve predicted it. I’ve even done it myself. [Read more…]

Bad Boys of Writing: Just Write and It Will Be Spectacular

July 12, 2006 by Liz 17 Comments

Meet the Bad Boys of Writing

Everyone knows them and hangs out with them. They are the bad boys of writing. Handsome and seductive fellows, they have weaseled their way into our thinking. They’re conmen really — conmen in the true sense of the word — they play a confidence came.

The bad boys take advantage of us because we wrote so much in school. They mess with our heads because we learned to write on cue. We confused the act of writing with the art and craft of writing. We don’t do that with wearing shoes, or living in a house or driving, but we do that with books and writing. So the bad boys of writing have a field day.

It’s time we showed the bad boys that we can beat them at their game.

Meet Bad Boy 1: Just write and it will be spectacular!

[Read more…]

6+1 How to Write Without Self-Consciousness

July 6, 2006 by Liz 17 Comments

How hard could it be?

At one publishing house, the author team worked in the brick and mortar building with the editors, designers, and production people. This added significant stress to the bookmaking process, because the authors felt that they should be able to write books. After all, they’d been writing all through graduate school. How hard could it be?

The author team hadn’t been taught how not to invest in their writing without becoming the words on the page. As a result, they were both self-conscious and defensive about what they wrote and often afraid to even get started. Meetings to talk about possible changes were excruciating — for them and for everyone.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Writers can invest completely; then let their work stand on its own. There’s no need to be self-conscious about what we write. We just need to go about it from the right direction.

They’re not Looking at You

For new writers, when the time comes to write, looking at a blank screen can feel like being under an interrogation light, or being on stage with everyone watching. It’s not really like that, but it sure can feel that way. The good faith feeling that a writer has to do work that is worth reading can place undue pressure to produce something that the writer feels needs to be more spectacular than most readers can even see. Here are six plus one ways to get those self-conscious feelings off your keyboard.

Plan before you write and get your facts straight. As with speaking, writing comes a lot easier and a lot less self-consciously, if you know what you’re going to say. Nothing adds more confidence up front than a plan that’s supported by facts. Freewrite to get an idea. Do the research. Sketch out bullet points. At the very least, write out the point you want to make. If you feel comfortable with the information, you’ll feel more confident writing about it.

Tell those imaginary folks who watch you that they’ll have to leave the room — that includes your self-editor. Call them by name if you have to. Explain that they can return when you start editing. Feel free to let one or two cheerleaders stay. Writing is an individual investment. Pour your heart and best intelligence into your first attempt, but don’t worry about winning a Pulitizer yet.

Turn the spotlight onto your work. Remember that your writing is not you. Your work is sharing information with your readers. Readers come to read your writing. You are not the words on the screen.

Only edit when you’re editing. If your self editor tries to sneak in while you’re writing, point to the door. After the writing, your editor will get to edit with glee. Then you will have your best writing effort, and you can shape the tone and details for your readers. Editing at that point also helps writers let go of personal feelings. Negative comments won’t feel so negative, if you save the editing until the writing is complete.

Be brave for your readers. Readers can sense when writers are fearful. They know when you’re thinking too much about what they think and not enough about what you’re telling them. For an audience, reading a self-conscious writer can be like watching an inexperienced tightrope walker, worrying that he or she is going to fall. Everyone gets uncomfortable.

Seek out confidence. If you’re worried that readers might see you as unqualified, ask someone to read your work before you post it. Ask that person to help shore up the facts, the writing and theconfident tone of your work.

PLUS ONE: Tell me something new. As a reader, there’s nothing better than finding a confident writer who tells me something new and engaging — a compelling read is satisfying and worth seeking out and going back for. It may take practice to get really good at that, but most readers can see who’s going to get there. and most readers know what they like.

So if your information is on the money and your style is filled with respect and confidence. Think of yourself as a rock band starting out, you’re picking your core fans now, the ones who see your potential,like your music — your brand — and where it’s going, as you keep practicing, doing it right, and playing for an audience you’ll keep getting more and more fans. That initial self-conscious stage fright will become a thing of the past.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you would like Liz to help you with your writing, see the Work with Liz!! page.