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Eight Ways to Unfreeze Your Writing

Stop pressing backspace. Write the body before the introduction. Read model answers, but never one on your own question. Small rules that get words moving.

March 22, 20243 min read

Does your brain freeze every time you sit down to write? Try these.

  1. Whatever you are writing, do not press backspace. Get it all down, then fix it afterwards.

  2. If you have no ideas, go back and read or listen to material on that topic again. Discuss the ideas with someone if you can.

  3. Set a timer for five minutes and write down every idea you have. Review and edit only after that.

  4. Read model answers, but never a model answer on the same question you are about to write.

  5. Ask ChatGPT to "suggest some ideas" for your question, then have a conversation with it.

  6. Get all the ideas down first. Worry about word choice later.

  7. If you want to improve your grammar, fix one single grammar point across the whole piece rather than everything at once.

  8. Write the body before the introduction and conclusion. Once the main points exist, opening and closing get much easier.

The short version is: write. Do not be afraid of getting it wrong. Getting it wrong and being able to fix it beats trying to be right first time.