A Word From the Editor: Writer's Block by Brian Jackson

One word at a time... until coming to a dead halt... seems I'm stuck again... oh no, it's writer's block!

Once encountered the question immediately comes to mind: How to make it go away, now?

Consider this simple two step technique for breaking writer's block: Swiss Cheese and Reward.

To Swiss Cheese a task simply punch holes in it to produce a series of smaller tasks that are easily achievable. The ease with which each smaller tasks can be solved is usually measured in time. Repeatedly swiss cheese a throrny task like writer's block until it's broken into small tasks that are easilly acheivable.

Establish a reward for completeing a small task.

Next, perform the small task.

Now, reward yourself for having complreted a portion of the original task. The size of the reward depends upon how much of an effort was just expected doing the smaller task.

Repeat establishing rewards for smaller tasks and doing the smaller tasks until the original task is completed. Then repeat by swiss cheesing the next task.

Sounds simple enough, but lets see it in action through the following example just to make sure we've got it down pat.

Let's say I choose to undertake the task of writing a novel. This is a monumental task. The first thing I must do is swiss cheese this large task into multiple smaller tasks such as exploring character backgrounds, outlining the plot, researching locations, and actually writing and editing the book. There are dependencies amongst these tasks; for example, it may be a good idea to outline the plot before writing. In this case, let's assume that we can jump directly to the task of writing the novel. This is still much to large of a task and is therefore swiss cheesed into the smaller accomplishments of finishing a chapter. Chapters are of cource composed of pages which are composed of paragraphs, sentences, and words. All of these provide opportunities for setting the size of the writing task depending upon the severity of the writers block. Just keep swiss cheesing until you're happy<\p>

Now, let's assume that I encounter a substantial case of writer's block. This is the staring at the screen with your finger in your ear and drooling variety. I decide that writing a sentence would be a major accomplishment. I set as a reward getting to step outside and take in a breath of fresh air. Now all I have to do is write a sentence, which anyone can do, and when I do I'll get a nice reward. It may be a struggle, but I'm going to write my sentence. Usually one sentence begets another. After awhile you start setting larger goals, say a paragraph, then a page and before you know it the writer's block is gone.

Note that this techinque works with chores other than writing, such as editing or even painting a house. Simply swiss cheese any task that seems to large to overcome into smaller tasks and reward yourself for acheiving each smaller task.

That's it for the week from the editors desk. Hope it helps and keep writing