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How do i get passed writer's block?
patrickjoseph
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
I am in charge of providing new content for a website, and I often get stuck and cannot come up with good topics to start writing about. What I often do is go work out and then hope that clearing my head has helped, but often, it has not. Does anyone have any good advice on good techniques to help the creativity keep flowing?
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stephen king famously forces himself to write at least ten thousand words every day. Some days he has an idea for a story or some dialogue, other days he just writes whatever comes into his head. The goal isn't necessarily to produce something good immediately or at all, the process is just a tool to get his brain going (also, sometimes if you're just braindumping words you'll 'discover' good concepts by accident.) I'm not suggesting you need to produce that much material every day, but you should be producing something even if it sucks.
another good approach for the kind of website topical writing you seem to be talking about is to come up with 2-3 gimmick pieces you can regularly return to; lots of sites have iterations on the same article that run every thursday or such, which can be a good way of generating a piece without having to come up with something totally new every time.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
― Kurt Vonnegut
I would recommend just reading something. Whether it is related to what you are supposed to write about or not, just go read something. You will inevitably stumble across something you find fascinating or at the very least mildly interesting and it will jog your mind. When you want to turn that idea into writing, think to yourself "How would this affect my life?" or perhaps in your case "How would this affect the company/product I am writing for?" no matter how ridiculous the ideas seem. Something will come eventually, just be prepared to fill a lot of pages with stuff you will never use.
"Dear Mom and Dad,
I'm trying to write content for the website right now and it's really got me stumped. I'm trying to talk about how our Product X is the best value on the market for waxing widgets, and I find myself challenged in describing the way that the widgets synergize..."
By trying to talk about the project in an imaginary format to my parents, I usually manage to get my thoughts to line up in the write order, basically taking the first step toward writing the content.
Another thing that helps is research. Read or watch or listen to things and the ideas will start to spark.
Anyone want to beta read a paranormal mystery novella? Here's your chance.
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just write. don't worry if it sucks (It will anyway, no matter when you do it, it's a first draft. just work at it)
1) Write something. Anything. Often when I'm trying to write about one thing, but I really have lots of ideas for something else. It's better just to write the something else to get it out of my head.
2) Apply butt to seat. Write. Sounds simplistic, but telling yourself that you will not get up until you've written something sometimes works.
3) Talk out what you're trying to write. I used to help a friend with writer's block, and he'd always say, "What I'm trying to write about is ..." then go on to just say what he should have been writing.
Yep, "writers block" just makes it sound like its some big affliction that will take a spirit quest to cure, which justifies you not writing.
When oyu sit at your desk, do you feel an urge to check the forums or play WoW instead of write? Thats not a block, its depressingly normal.
Time management is the best solution, for example when cleaning my house I find it best to set a timer for 15 mins, do some cleaning, then stop. After a few days of this you'll find you have to think hard to even find things to clean.
Same with writers block, set an hour to write. Every time I do this with writing music its the same, I sit there for a while hating my life and music and writing, after the hour is up though I typically have something. Maybe even something good.
The stopwatch is important, don't just say "I'm gonna do this today at some point" USE THE TIMER.
Isn't it 1000-2000? In 'On Writing' he says he writes 2000 words a day and that one could start out with 1000 if 2000 sounds daunting.
Go to a book store and get a book that covers the topics that you want to write about. Open up the table of contents and take a look at the different points that the book covers. If one catches your eye, write about it. If several catch your eye, write them down. Put the book back and get to writing.
2) Write something
There is no secret. You just shit at the page until something decent starts to stick and delete/edit the crap. The only thing that there is a secret about with writers block is that it had exponential growth. The longer you don't throw something at the page the harder it becomes to do so.