How to Write Yourself Out of a Thinking Block

Yesterday I didn’t want to write.

I felt uncreative and thought I had nothing to say. But, I’m doing two challenges right now, the first is Phase 1 of 75Hard and one of the tasks I had on my list for the day was to write a 250 atomic essay and post it on Twitter. Secondly, although not officially part of the #Ship30for30, I’ve challenged myself to write 30 atomic essays on a single topic in 30 days.

Having writer’s block was not an option.

John Rogers says, “You can’t think yourself out of a writing block; you have to write yourself out of a thinking block.” So, I used a micro-routine to get words on a page.

Here’s the ‘Just Write It’ micro-routine I used.

1. Show up prepared to write (right equipment, right place, right time)

2. Select a template for the type of writing you plan to do

3. Type whatever thoughts come to mind — anything about anything — get your fingers in motion

4. Ask yourself questions about the topic and answer them (write the answers even if you don’t feel they’re amazing)

5. Use the template you selected to guide your thinking (question/answer) process until you’ve completed the first draft

Stay at it for the time you’ve committed. Once you have your thoughts written, you have something to work with — and that’s where the fun begins.

Have you ever used a micro-routine to write yourself out of a thinking block? I’d love to hear your process.

This post was created with Typeshare