Tips for breaking through the barrier

You probably have something in common with everyone else who’s ever had writer’s block: you eventually got going. The problem is, that may well have been because your report was due first thing the next morning and the alternative was the Job Centre.

But imagine if something other than blind necessity could break through that wall of fear. If only there was something you could do to stop yourself spending the entire night before the deadline writing in a cold sweat and submitting something substandard. There is, says Emphasis CEO Rob Ashton. The key is to make the act of writing seem less threatening.

‘In the writing process there comes a tipping point where the pain of not doing it outweighs the perceived pain of doing it,’ says Rob. ‘The key to overcoming writer’s block is to bring forward that point to now, rather than midnight before it’s due in.’

Try these strategies to help you break through the barrier and you’ll be finished before you know it.

Trick yourself

It’s actually possible for one part of your brain to fool another that it isn’t afraid, according to Mark Forster, author of Do It Tomorrow – and Other Secrets of Time Management.

Forster suggests using the technique of telling yourself, ‘I’m not really going to write the [piece in question] now, I’ll just…’ and fill in the blank with an easy beginning task. For example: ‘I’ll just … launch Microsoft Word’, or ‘I’ll just … get the research folder out’.

This simple act can be a breakthrough. ‘Once you’ve taken that first action, you will have got over the initial step,’ says Forster. ‘You may well find that you are hardly even aware that you are moving on to take some additional action.’

Map it out

Facing down a whole unwritten document may be sending chills down your back, but the process of getting on with it can easily be broken down into non-threatening actions. One of these – drawing a mind map – is also a useful tool to make sure you’ve covered every who, what, when, where and how.

Know your reader

The best writing knows its audience, and realising how much you do know about your reader is a great motivational tool – as well as helping you to write a document that will do its job. Filling in a reader profile questionnaire is another ‘safe’ – as well as highly effective – place to start.

Work in bursts

When breaking through the block, you’ll feel less overwhelmed if you know you’re going to stop at a certain point. Set a timer with an alarm for a short period of solid work, followed by a few minutes’ break, then a slightly longer stretch of work – and so on. The more stressed you feel about the task, the shorter each burst of work should be.

Gradually increase the work time between breaks until you reach your optimal length of time – generally this will be no more than about 40 minutes. Stopping at the alarm – even in mid-sentence – may actually give you the urge to return to your writing. ‘The mind craves completion and will want to get back to the task,’ says Forster. ‘This helps you to build up a strong momentum.’

Listen to the Audio Tips interview with Rob Ashton here.

And find out what’s going on in our heads when writer’s block strikes here.