Getting over the writer's block

I.M. Soni

Do you ever complain that you “can’t get ideas”? The biggest block in the flow of ideas is lack of action. You have to work on this.

 The first rule in this regard is: When you have an idea that calls for creative effort, begin immediately.

Your first job, then, is to get started, and the sooner the better. You have time to weigh and consider and to select the important from the unimportant. You have time to stumble on to a lot of good ideas that you need.

The subconscious comes up with a lot of assistance. You may be reading a newspaper when suddenly an idea comes for solving the problem or helping in some phase of it. For instance, something you read or see may prompt you to remark: “Say, I could change that a little, and it would be the very thing I need.”

Something you read gives you a hint although it may have nothing to do with the problem.

If a report or paper is due in a week, for example, you might plan it like this: Allow four days for getting ideas and gathering information, one day for writing the first draft of the paper, and two days for revising and putting it in its final form. As a general rule, you should always allow more time for getting ideas and information than for writing the paper, or whatever is called for.

In planning your time, you should also outline on paper your tentative plans. Write down the skeleton ideas around which your project will be based. These ideas you will undoubtedly change or developed later

Ideas that seem perfectly clear will escape you later – if you do not write them down initially. Besides, if you jot down thoughts when they occur to you, then you are more likely to express them in a fresher, livelier manner later on.

Read books, magazines and newspapers or any source of information you can find.

Do not forget the dictionary! It is an excellent source of information and ideas. You can often pick up a lot of thoughts by simply thumbing through the dictionary and investigating the words that pertain to your project.

Other good sources are: General encyclopaedias such as American Peoples Encyclopaedia, almanacs such as the World or Information Please almanacs, handbooks such as the Readers’ Handbook or those published in radio and engineering, biographical dictionaries, Who’s Who, and Year Books.

All the ideas, facts, information, and plans that you have should be put on paper.

Seek new ways of doing the job. Look for new angles or twists that you can apply to it. When you do this with an inquisitive mind, you often can take something old and give it a brand new look, or take something new and improve it considerably.

        The work part can be fun – it is the waiting, indecision, and frustration that cause most of the trouble or unhappiness that is often experienced by some.

The technique of taking good notes is the most valuable skill you can acquire. Its mastery will require planned practice on your part.

The very act of writing key ideas and information multiplies your chances of learning and remembering them.

When you hear an idea, this makes an impression on your mind; when you write the idea, you see it.

In the learning process most of us are more “eye-minded” than “ear-minded. That is, as a rule, we grasp eye impressions more quickly and retain them longer. In fact, it is estimated that over 85 per cent of what we have learned has been gained through the eyes.

Never forget that things in motion tend to remain in motion; things at rest tend to remain at rest. When you act, you get ideas; when you remain inactive (inert), you can do little except complain, “I can’t think of anything.”