Are you stuck on a writing assignment or presentation?

You’ve heard the “my mind’s gone blank” expression but what you may not know is just how easy it is to bash right through it and get some great material for your piece.

Tip #1 – Don’t try to write in order.

That is, don’t think you have to sit there and pen the entire piece from start to finish in that order! Most finished pieces aren’t written that way anyhow. If you want to say something, write it down! Don’t try to “save” it for later because you inevitably forget and will kick yourself. Just write all your thoughts down in whatever order and you can hop and change later. It’s called puzzling – just put it down then adjust the pieces later until you have a competed piece.

Example: Say you’re writing a piece about the bad effects of the sun’s UV rays. Many thoughts could be running through your mind like damage to skin, hair and eyes. Write down exactly that. These now act as anchors for you to expand on. So “skin damage” can be one anchor. “Acuvue contact lenses” can be another anchor for eye damage. “Hats/oils” can be yet another for hair. Follow?

Tip #2 – Don’t Edit.

This is going to infuriate the heck out of the OCD’s and perfectionists. Let it go – it will be okay. Don’t correct your spelling, sentence structure or anything just yet. Let it all come out – this is the most critical step of the process so you got to trust us here. Your spell checker and a clearer mind will do the corrections later.

Tip #3 – Step away.

Once your’re done, go away. No really. Have something to eat, read a book or simply chill overnight if you can. When you come back to it in better spirits, you will be amazed just how much you “see” as opposed to having your head buried in it for hours on end.

Tip #4 – Butcher (edit ) at will.

Ok, NOW you can take the correcting marker to it and polish it up. Spell check, syntax, all of that can be fine tuned here. By the way, the reason it’s not a good idea to correct yourself earlier is writing the actual piece requires your “thinking” part of your brain to operate smoothly. If you keep abruptly going back to fix things, it’s synonymous with going over a speed hump with your car. You can never get any thought momentum going. Correcting it is an automatic process your mind or spell checker does on auto pilot.

Tip #5 – Proofread it.

Have yourself read it over a couple of times. Does it flow? Is there something missing? Did you deviate from the topic too much of UV sun damage to something like soccer jerseys? Perhaps the UV protected contact lenses you had in mind while writing made you think too laterally. Time to get back on track. Stick to your original anchor which was UV protected contact lenses (like acuvue oasys or something similar).

Give it to someone else to take a look at. They always seem to pick up things we don’t.

That’s it! Follow these as best you can and you will be churning out content like there’s no tomorrow.

Remember – resist the urge to correct yourself while you are writing!