I reviewed where I was on that product value team post, the one that made me draw a picture. Yes, all 1200 words of it. That's when I laughed out loud and decided to toss that post in the trash. That would allow me to start fresh.
Why?
I might be able to salvage the start, but my logic convoluted itself. There are a couple of gems in there, but not the way I currently configured the sentences.
If I try to edit that post, I'll get stuck. Instead, I toss what I wrote and do this instead:
- Sometimes, I reread to see the ideas I want to remember. I make a note of those ideas somewhere else, not in what I'm writing. Then I start a new “page.” (In this case, it's a new post in WordPress.)
- If I drew a picture, use that image to start the new piece. (That's what I'm doing with that old post. The image is the gem of the idea.)
- Use a different mode of writing. If I chose to type before, consider longhand. I now use dictation a lot to see what I really think.
Dictation works for me because I am such an extrovert. I'm better with an audience, but hey, I can imagine skeptical people out there, past my microphone!
All of these possibilities get me past the stuckness.
Old Words Can Feel Like Debt
Each writer has their own reaction to being stuck. My stuckness often means I write many, many, many (too many!) words. I can no longer see the ideas I started with.
Other writers look at the page and wonder where to go next. They stay there looking, as if the blinking cursor after that last line will offer them inspiration for the next sentence.
I'm sure other writers have other reactions. But all the stuck reactions have this in common: We don't know how to go forward.
Start Fresh
When we toss the previous writing, we have the freedom to start something new, something fresh. We don't have our previous descriptions holding us back. In effect, our previous writing “debt” shackles us to the old ways. When we toss, we don't have that debt. (That's why I often recommend writers stop editing and start fresh.)
Our previous words are not magic or special. We can always make more words, regardless of whether we choose to use those previous ideas.
Starting fresh allows us to write forward, without the old words dragging us down. (This feels exactly the way I wrote code.)
Notice if you are stuck. Then decide if tossing your words and starting fresh will work for you.
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This is part of an intermittent series of “writing secrets.”