Have you ever had a problem where you just had no desire to write? You want to write, you need to write, but the desire is just not there. This is the point when washing the greasy pot and pans sounds more desirable than writing. When cleaning the cat box entices you away from typing on the keyboard. You look at a blank page until beads of sweat form on your brow, then beat your head on the keyboard until something looks like the start of a sentence.
I've been there often. Usually when I have to write something late at night after a long day of dealing with life in general as I know it. I'm just not good at refocusing the brain when it gets unfocused.
The following tricks are suggestions that I have collected on how to get focused and start writing when you face this problem.
1. Forget the beginning. Skip it if you have to, write worthless babble if you must, but don't worry about getting the perfect opener for your work. Chances are when you go back to it later you will reread it and find it does not tie in very well with what the heart of your article turned out to be, so just forget writing the beginning first and instead write it last.
2. Pick a word at random from a book and see if you can write 50 or 100 words around the subject. Picked up something like the word "the"? Have at it:
THE computer operating system. This was a multiprogramming system that was designed by Edsger Dijkstra and his team. Using the concept of layers as a structure, THE was the abbreviation for "Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven": The Dutch name of the Eindhoven University of Technology at the time the operating system was developed.
Want to know more? Check out: href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THE" />
I personally had not realized when I randomly picked a common word that I would find out such a fascinating thing to write about it. So go find a word and see what you might discover for breaking your writer's block.
3. Write longhand. I know it sounds weird, but I can often write longhand a lot better than I can write on the computer. In fact, in something she had wrote, I think J.K. Rowling said she writes all her books longhand. And she's not the only famous author that prefers to write longhand. I forget just who, but there is one that will only write their first draft in longhand on yellow legal pads.
4. Dictate - either into a recorder or into a voice recognition system. Sometimes talking something out can be easier than writing it. I have a digital recorder I bought for this very purpose since I can describe scenes to someone easier than I can write them out. Later I just play it back slow and type in a bit at a time from a fully plotted scene on tape.
There are many more ideas - feel free to share a few of your own favorites in the comments.
I've been there often. Usually when I have to write something late at night after a long day of dealing with life in general as I know it. I'm just not good at refocusing the brain when it gets unfocused.
The following tricks are suggestions that I have collected on how to get focused and start writing when you face this problem.
1. Forget the beginning. Skip it if you have to, write worthless babble if you must, but don't worry about getting the perfect opener for your work. Chances are when you go back to it later you will reread it and find it does not tie in very well with what the heart of your article turned out to be, so just forget writing the beginning first and instead write it last.
2. Pick a word at random from a book and see if you can write 50 or 100 words around the subject. Picked up something like the word "the"? Have at it:
THE computer operating system. This was a multiprogramming system that was designed by Edsger Dijkstra and his team. Using the concept of layers as a structure, THE was the abbreviation for "Technische Hogeschool Eindhoven": The Dutch name of the Eindhoven University of Technology at the time the operating system was developed.
Want to know more? Check out: href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/THE" />
I personally had not realized when I randomly picked a common word that I would find out such a fascinating thing to write about it. So go find a word and see what you might discover for breaking your writer's block.
3. Write longhand. I know it sounds weird, but I can often write longhand a lot better than I can write on the computer. In fact, in something she had wrote, I think J.K. Rowling said she writes all her books longhand. And she's not the only famous author that prefers to write longhand. I forget just who, but there is one that will only write their first draft in longhand on yellow legal pads.
4. Dictate - either into a recorder or into a voice recognition system. Sometimes talking something out can be easier than writing it. I have a digital recorder I bought for this very purpose since I can describe scenes to someone easier than I can write them out. Later I just play it back slow and type in a bit at a time from a fully plotted scene on tape.
There are many more ideas - feel free to share a few of your own favorites in the comments.
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