Nuts & Bolts
Business of Freelancing

Drawing a Blank? Leap Over Your Writer's Block

By Michael Causey, WIW Board Member

Let's start with some honesty: Sometimes getting the writing gig is a lot more exciting than actually doing it. The adrenalin rush and feeling of satisfaction that comes with winning a project isn't always sustained when you sit down to write the piece about accountants in the automobile industry and their tips on how controlling parts inventory can save their dealers money. No doubt that is important stuff for the readers. But is it the kind of topic that gets the creative writer's juices automatically flowing?

So, you've won the contract. The pay is solid, the client is great to work with and you even see that this might be the beginning of that freelancer's elusive dream: ongoing assignments.

And then you sit at your desk staring at a blank piece of paper. And staring. And getting up and walking around. And staring. And making a cup of tea. And staring. And reshuffling your papers. And staring.

You're stuck

You hear the deadline ticking like the clock in the crocodile's belly that haunts Peter Pan's Captain Hook. You are intimidated by a blank sheet of paper. You don't know how to start writing; you begin to wonder if you can do this.

You can 

Here are some tips and tactics that might help you confront that blank sheet of paper. Different approaches work at different times, in different situations. However, all should be adapted to fit your personal style. For example, if you don't like Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" as much as I do, feel free to insert your own musical selection.

Tips to Jump Start Your Writing:

Talk to Readers

This is especially important true when you are writing business-to-business articles or otherwise covering relatively narrow subjects. Unlike general topic articles, these are not always inherently interesting. So how do you get fired up to get started? I suggest calling some readers and subscribers. Talk to them about your specific article or the topic in general. Their enthusiasm for their work and the subject can rub off on you. I became interested in software programs that enhance quality assurance for drug and device manufacturers after I met and chatted with people in the field who cared about this.

Start with a Headline

My personal rule of thumb is that if I can't write the headline for my article, then I'm not ready to write it. While editors may ultimately insert their own headline for space or other style reasons, you'll help to focus yourself by coming up with your own headline. This is particularly helpful when you have tons of material to work with and don't know where to start. A headline serves the dual purpose of removing some white space from the page and providing important focus to get you cranking on the article.

Listen for a "Pullout Quote"

A pullout quote is a common feature in magazines and many newsletters and newspapers. Usually it's set in larger type with a border above and below as a way to give readers a quick flavor for the article. When I conduct interviews with people (see tip 1) to obtain basic information or specific answers, I listen for a snappy or articulate and informative quote that I recognize as the pullout quote in the laid-out version of the article. About half of the sources I talk to can be counted on to supply one or two of those "ah ha!" quotes that can help to spark the shaping and writing of the article.

Read your old stuff

If you're stuck working on an article for a publication you've written for in the past, go back and read some of your old articles. I find this often inspires me to have the confidence to press ahead. "Well," I say to myself, "I was able to get going with that bear of an article last March, so I'll just dive in today and see what happens."

If I find myself being discouraged by reading an old piece that isn't quite as wonderful as I remembered it, I quickly flip around to find something better. If you're writing in a publication or subject area for the first time this tip still can help. Try reading a few articles from your past that are structured in the same way as the one you are struggling to produce. If all else fails, use my Driver's License Rule.

When I was 15, I was scared about trying to get a driver's license until I looked around the nation's roads and highways and saw the caliber of people who already had driver's licenses. I quickly realized that while I may never be a NASCAR-quality driver, I could certainly make the basic grade if these other folks could. When it comes to writing, you wouldn't have gotten the gig if you couldn't do it. So do it.

Read other stuff

Read competitors' articles. Read back issues of the publication especially if you haven't written for it before. I find that getting a sense of the publication's "tone" gives me the confidence to get started and gives me a better sense of what topics are hot and of greatest interest to readers.

Play music

This is one of the more subjective tips. I favor Led Zeppelin and live Bob Marley to get myself pumped up. I used to play "Pomp and Circumstance" when I wrote speeches, but I found the writing to be a bit, well, pompous, so I dropped that from the play list. Another caveat: After the music helps to pump you up and you write paragraphs and pages to the beat of Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" or Marley's "Trenchtown Rock," go back and read it again without music. Whoever is editing your article is not likely to have the same soundtrack playing when they read your work. Music can get you going, but it doesn't always produce final draft copy.

Know yourself

If you're like me, you're at your best at the beginning and end of the day. I cheat with coffee, but my best natural writing state is two or three hours at the end of the day. It took me about two years to recognize this. Now, when I find myself at 1 p.m. staring at my screen or a blank sheet of paper I usually put it away, take a walk, change the subject or work on different non-writing projects. After a few years as a full-time freelancer I am now confident that the sails on my writing "sailboat" will catch another trade wind around 4 or 5 p.m., so that I can get done in an hour what would take me four hours at mid-day. Different folks have different rhythms. Figure yours out and respect it as much as you can. Deadlines don't always cooperate, but with some planning, I find I can usually write when I want to, rather than when I have to.

Writing isn't always easy, and being stuck is a common problem. Remember to give yourself a break when you feel like you've hit a wall. Pouring coffee down your throat and chaining yourself to your desk for ten hours might provide The Scarlet Letter kind of suffering resolution to do it, but you'll do better by respecting yourself and your craft by giving yourself the best positive opportunities for success.  

WIW Board Member Michael Causey is a fulltime freelancer. Information about his work is available at http://hometown.aol.com/jmcauseyj/myhomepage/profile.html.