Writer's Block

Now that you have identified your audience and organized your thoughts, the next step is to actually start creating the content. Many professionals who are strong writers get stuck in a classic phase of what is known as "writer's block." They know everything about the subject. They even have their finger on who the audience is and what they want to say to them, but they just cannot seem to get the hang of how to say it.

Writer's block is traditionally defined as a person's inability to:

create fresh text;

polish and trim text that is already created;

meet project deadlines on time.

Why do talented people suffer from writer's block? Two reasons might be procrastination and fear. While the first is self-explanatory, we need to take a look at the latter. What is this fear? Sometimes it is a fear of being judged and ridiculed by what you write. It also can be a form of performance anxiety, in which you think you need to be perfect and are terrified of doing anything less than perfect. It is a vicious circle: You want to be perfect, but you want to stick to the rules, so you cannot write anything creative. The result is contrived text and a writer's block.

Here are a few tips on how to overcome your writer's block and get on with your writing:

Go easy on yourself: You do not have to come up with perfect text in the first draft itself; it is completely okay to rewrite and edit things. You might need to create numerous drafts and add and delete things, but do not become bogged down by that.

Do not obsess: If you find that you cannot think of anything to write and simply are staring at the blank screen, take a break. Go do something else: walk your dog, listen to your favorite song, do anything to take your mind off the block. Then come back to your task with a fresh perspective.

Break the rules: Most writers get stuck on the opening sentence of any article. The failure to come up with a good line can be very painful. If you find that you cannot think of a good first sentence, move on. No one said that the first sentence had to be written first; if you have ideas, move on to another part of the article and write it first.

Prepare: Before you sit down to write, think about the task at hand. Go over the audience analysis and the notes you made on what you want to say. This way you will refresh your mind and be prepared.

Concentrate: Often lack of concentration results in writer's block, so switch off your cell phone if you have to, and give your document 100 percent of your attention.

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