“The hardest thing about writing is writing.” — Nora Ephron
Those moments when writing doesn't come easy are more frequent when epiphanies hit. I wonder how many potentially amazing writers gave up the moment writing got hard and didn't get to share their interesting ideas. How many people have pushed aside hard work and settled for something less because the writing got tough or was too time consuming or the feedback was too harsh?
Writing is hard. Writing is not a one-and-done process. Even grocery lists get revisited 20 times before I set foot in a grocery store. Just think, if writers went after their drafts what many revisions, how might their writing change? When readers are constantly exposed to the finished work of professional writers, they don't get an opportunity to see the writing process.
Most professional writers will talk about the development of their writing in stages, drafts, or edits. Okay, maybe sometimes, by some miracle, a writer or two will jot down some fantabulous line. That's not common; what's more common is the time-consuming process of perfecting writing, of making sure the writing includes the details of the writer's ideas in a way readers can understand them.
What happens when writers try to write the perfect draft a first time? Writer's block. I come from the process writing camp. Focusing first on the process, then how your process will lead to a product, can help to jar loose some ideas. A few ways to break out of writers block include
Freewriting
Looping
Cluster Bubbles (sometimes called Mind-Webs or -Maps)
Listing
Talk-to-texting a freethink (like freewriting, but using talk to text capabilities)
One of the things I like to do is take a quote from something I read and write everything I can possibly think about that quote. I set a timer--no more than 7 minutes. Then, I walk away. When I come back to my writing, I read through the rough passage and think about what new things came to mind. I write them down. Finally, I go through and copy the ideas that go together into a new paragraph. Altogether, this process adds up to about 30 minutes of writing. The writing may not be perfect, but I have a solid paragraph and more ideas to pick from. I've saved myself 30 minutes of misery staring at a blank screen with nothing good to build onto--much less a perfect first draft.
Another favorite strategy is to turn on the talk to text and talk out my ideas with a friend. Some of the text comes out garbled, but I end up with something to work with. I have to tease out the ideas that are good and make decisions about what I want to keep. In these situations, I take what I like and I leave the rest for another time. Again, this takes about 30 minutes of time altogether.
Writing is hard, but there are ways to make getting the writing done managable. Part of writer's block is managing time; another part of writer's block is managing ideas. Understanding assignments and knowing your own interests is important. Instructors, friends, and employers can encourage writers, but writers also need to shape their mindset to reflect positive, flexible attitudes about writing and their writing abilities. The most important part, though, is to write something. Anything. Whatever comes to mind. Let's get started . . .