AaronTurpen.com

A lot of writers, especially those who write creatively, complain of writer’s block.  I’ve experienced it many times.  There are a lot of methods for countering the block, but not all of them work for everyone.

What works for me may be different than what works for you, but here are the methods I use most often to get me through a bout of writer’s block.  The one I choose will depend on several things, such as what kind of deadline I’m under, how many other projects I have, and even what time of year it is.

When Time is Not the Issue

Of course, rarely is time not really important, since many of us will get writer’s block and then just procrastinate until the very end of our deadline.  That’s a bad habit to get into, so here is what I do before time becomes an issue.

First, I walk away from the project I’m not able to write for.  Not quit, just walk away from it.  I take a day, maybe two, and ignore all information relating to the subject or job and instead work on other things.

Sometimes those other things aren’t even writing, actually.  I might mow the lawn, do some handyman jobs around the house (aka “honey do’s”), play with the dogs, etc.  Anything, so long as it is not the troublesome project.

After doing this and refreshing myself with other subjects, I can usually go back and no longer have a blockage.

When the Pressure Is On

Of course, most writer’s block (at least for me) tends to come because the project is a “hurry hurry, last minute, right now, no time to waste” endeavor.  I used to get a lot of these, but have since either weeded out the clients who were chronic with these types of last-minute projects or have doubled the price to them, thereby winning extra time to avoid the higher costs.

Of course, reasons that may not be your client’s fault or that may be because of your own schedule can make any project become a last-minute time crunch.  Whatever thecase, being under pressure often causes writer’s block – more so than at any other time for me.

For this, I have a method that takes about an hour, but it’s grueling.

I set an alarm (usually my cell phone or the computer) for fifteen minutes.  Then, ignoring the alarm, I open up a word processor and start typing.  I make no stops, no breaks, no “glances at email” or anything else.  What I’m writing doesn’t matter.  Usually it is just me ranting out a tirade about the looming deadline, the project, or the project that delayed me getting to this one, or whatever else.  To be honest, these rants usually boil down to something about the IRS, someone that recently peeved me, and similar and rarely has to do with the project at hand.

The subject you’re writing on for this fifteen minute marathon is not really important.  It’s the unabated flow of writing that matters.  After fifteen minutes, I can often stop, take a breather, and open a new page and begin the project at hand.

If, after fifteen minutes, the block is still there, then I do another fifteen.  It can sometimes take up to an hour to get through, but most of the time the first fifteen minutes does the job.

The Research Salve

My last method, which I’ll use when the block seems to be all about “how do I start this?” is what I call my “research salve.”  I cover the wound (writer’s block) with more research or with a re-examination of it.

Often the blockage in this case is not an inability to write on the subject, but instead a problem with what approach to take.  Some time spent going through the information to be written about usually solves this for me.  Especially if I take a respite or break of some kind and come back to it.

Another, similar method I often use for heavily-researched and science-based items is mind mapping or even the writing of a preliminary, summarized version of what I intend to write overall (without any “angle” implied).  In other words, I take the information and either map it out in a non-linear fashion (mind map) or I write a short (less than a page) “just the facts, ma’am” summary to work from.

Either of these works well to put all of the information in front of me in a one-page, one-glance format so that I can more easily develop a focus for the final piece.

Whatever Works For You

Of course, you’ll have to find whatever works for you in whatever situation you find yourself in.  Many writers use meditation, relaxation, stimulation, distraction, and many other “ions” to work through their writer’s block.

There are as many ways to do it as there are writers doing it.  Experiment a little and find your best methods.

The title of this one should give away the fact that this article is not really aimed towards writing professionals.  Instead, I though something should be said to those who write as a side note to their normal career.  Maybe you work in IT and your boss expects you to occasionally write presentations, reports, or blog posts.  Maybe you’re a commodities trader and your business could use the marketing boost that some decent articles and a newsletter might provide.  Whatever your situation, you’ve found yourself being required to write things for other people to read and are a little unsure of yourself.

Well, have no fear.  Good writing requires only that you understand some fundamentals and build some simple, proven habits to bolster them.  These are the beginning skills a professional writer will foster and will take mediocre writing to the level of good writing quite quickly.  The ultimate goal here, really, is to get rid of some of the baggage we all have thanks to the way we’re taught to write in school and to avoid common mistakes.

I’ve covered many of the basics before, but will repeat them here and add a few new ones that might help non-professionals find an easier track towards good writing.

Make Proofreading a Habit

This one is universal and has been repeated often here at AaronTurpen.com.  After you’ve completed writing your material, set it aside for as long as possible (a full day is best, but an hour is OK if time lines are short) and then read through it.  This gives you a clearer perspective on what you’ve written and will help you do several things: see typos and misspellings, fix repetitious words and phrases, re-arrange material for better flow, and otherwise clean up your work.  Most shoddy writing can be fixed with a few minutes’ proofing.

Making this a habit will eventually lead to proofreading as you write, eliminating your most common mistakes before they happen.

Read It Out Loud

Once you’ve completed your writing, read it back to yourself out loud.  Does it stay together?  Are parts of it clunky or hard to understand?  If something is hard to read out loud, it’s definitely hard to read period.  This will force you to simplify sentences and keep on point.  After a while, you’ll get in the habit of writing out loud in your head.

Use Punctuation For Readability, Not “Grammar”

The worst thing they teach in schools is “proper grammar.”  This involves a lot of memorization and rote learning about the way punctuation is “correctly” used.  Most of it is detrimental to good writing.  Sure, it might look great to your High School English teacher, but for the man on the street?  It’s hoity and makes no sense.  Punctuation should make sense.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that every sentence shouldn’t have a period, a question mark, etc. at the end, but it also means that just because grammar says a semi-colon or comma is supposed to be there (or not be there) the sentence or paragraph won’t read better if it isn’t (or is).  Use commas, semi-colons, and hyphens as ways to create pauses, to break up ideas, or to create better readability and flow.  If, when reading your work out loud, you notice that a sentence is a little long or seems hard to grasp, it could probably do with something to break it up.  Either add a comma (or two) or cut it in half and make two sentences.

Remember that most reading takes place verbally (if in our heads) because language is, fundamentally, meant to be spoken.  Use that knowledge to make your writing easier to read.  Here are a few quick rules about punctuation marks:

• Commas are the carpenter’s hammer of the writing trade.  While periods are the nails, commas are what pounds them in.  Use commas to create a pause, make a list, or otherwise divvy up a sentence into easily digestible bits.
• Semi-colons are probably the least-used and most useful of the punctuation marks.  Often, two short sentences that appear choppy can be combined with a semi-colon to make them smooth.  Imagine the spots where you’d arch an eyebrow, give a smirk, or otherwise signal to someone you’re talking to that something is important; that’s where a semi-colon goes.
• Parenthesis are probably the most over-used of the punctuation marks that could stand being underused.  More often than not, they’re used when they shouldn’t be.  Much of the time, they can be replaced with commas, a colon, or dashes.  For you programming types, nesting parenthesis in writing is never good.
• Colons are used to make examples and that’s it.  Don’t use them for anything else.  It’s distracting.
• Dashes are very useful for encapsulating an idea within a larger idea.  So if you have two sentences to write, but one looks better when said inside the other, use dashes rather than parenthesis to add it in.  It automatically tells the reader’s brain that a brand new idea is about to come and shouldn’t be confused with the original one they’ve been reading.
• Question marks and exclamation points are how you add character to a paragraph or page.  Question marks should always end a question, of course, but questions can be used for more than just asking questions.  They can be existential, make a heavy point, or just make the reader ask for an answer.  Do you think questions are just questions?  Think again.  Exclamations, on the other hand, should be used very sparingly.  In fact, if you aren’t writing a personal email, a crappy blog post, or a text message to your friends, don’t use exclamations.  They are the purview of Internet marketers and should be avoided as much as possible.

Don’t Ramble; Follow the 5th Grader’s Basics

Last, but definitely not least, don’t ramble along in your writing.  If you have trouble with this, set word count goals or other limits to force your writing to be concise.  When proofing, trim the fat and keep it all on topic.

Of course, none of this means you should totally ignore all of the English classes you had to take in school.  Everything you learned up to about the 5th grade is probably relevant.  Capitalize the first word of the sentence, capitalize proper nouns, don’t use five exclamation points when you really need just one, and for hell’s sakes, don’t rush it!

Take your time, do it right, and eventually it will become easier and easier.  Writing is all about practice. Great writing is about being a genius – ask anyone who knows me!!!

There are three types of bad language in writing: bad grammar, over-use of jargon and confusing terms, and expletives.  Today I’m going to talk about the latter two.  Starting with jargon and what I like to refer to as “five dollar words and phrases.”

Over-Using $5 Words

Like most writers, I read a lot.  I read commercially printed materials, online stuff, academic reports and studies, and more.  One thing I love about writing, actually, is that I get exposed to a wide variety of information on a regular basis.  This also means I’m exposed to a lot of badly written material.  Surprisingly, this is most often found in two places, neither of which would seem to  make logical sense.

I see bad writing more often in academic material and online sales and marketing materials than I do anywhere else.  By academic materials, I don’t mean just term papers and lazy work from students, I mean published, even peer-reviewed literature in accepted and sometimes prestigious journals of science.  I also see garbage on relatively big-name company websites, not just with get-rich-quick garbage sites (those are guaranteed to give you a headache with their sloppy writing).

In academics and sales, the two things most often over-used are jargon and needlessly complex sentences.  If this makes sense to you, you’re a born tech marketer:

“Harmonized, relational opportunity to incubate synergistic networks.”

That phrase says exactly nothing, but it sounds great and uses a lot of buzz words that upper management types find appealing.  Many marketing sites are full of that stuff.  In fact, someone in middle management at a software firm once told me that he used the Internet Bullshit Generator to create keyphrases for use in his own team progress reports.  He won awards and acclaim from his bosses for his “team-oriented, synergistic attitude and performance.”

Another problem are sentences that are too complex and could easily be broken into smaller parts to make a paragraph that is much easier to read.  You see this in academia regularly.  A lot of commas, dashes, semi-colons, and so forth are used to make three or four sentences into one.

“The relational database was then referenced with a cross-tool to pull a randomized, Roth scaled sample; resulting in a mean attribute of 7.43% on the Roth and subjective samples from the test group were then compared and given a mean Roth of 5.19% – the results showing a clear disassociation between the control and test groups.”

The whole sentence there is a little less than synergistic.  In order to keep from shaming the researchers and scientists involved, I won’t reference the original study from which I quoted that.  It’s horrific and the entire abstract and conclusions section of the 12-page research synopsis reads that way.

Both of these are examples of people who are either too full of themselves to relate to other people in normal English or who are so absorbed in their non-writing work that they see the written material that it culminates into as inconsequential.

In both cases, they’re wrong.

Marketing materials boil down to how they’re perceived, which is all about how they read and look.  Same with internal business documents and so forth.  If your company has a culture that thrives on B.S. terms like my friend’s above, you might want to reconsider your career choice.

If your scientific endeavors are not all about the paper you will be publishing to explain your work, you need to reconsider some of your viewpoints on what science is.  Science is as much about disseminating breakthroughs and study results as it is about accomplishing those breakthroughs and studies.

Swear Words (Expletives) in Writing

Moving on to another subject within the definition of “bad language,” we come to actual bad language.  The kind of stuff that got our mouths washed out with soap, made us feel cool when we were 8, and that is generally heard around construction sites and comedy clubs.

Literature has a broad range of appeal and there is certainly a place for the use of expletives in it.  Most of the writing that I do is for venues that look down upon (or flatly won’t print) any type or variation of swear words.  This is not generally a problem for me and most professional writing will use few, if any, of those curses.

In some formats, especially those that are considered “not safe for the office,” throwing out the occasional F-bomb is considered kosher.  I have a website on which I use light swearing occasionally, usually as part of the humorous intent of the site itself and the subject matter at hand.  It’s a rare exception rather than the rule.

So far as I’m concerned, the type of swearing that would be acceptable depends upon the venue and audience being aimed for.  If the written piece is a work of fiction aimed towards a more gritty style, then swearing (even heavily) is probably just fine.  If, however, it is journalistic or meant to engage a general audience, then it is definitely not OK.

Conclusion

However you treat bad language, make sure it’s done with good judgment.  Knowing where, when, and why you are using the words and phrases you’re using is important.  If you’re unsure of what you should do with a curse word or phrase, or if you’re not sure that a specific type of jargon or sentence structure will be acceptable, then work around it (without using it).  It’s always safer to break large sentences into smaller ones and it’s always a good idea to explain jargon rather than assuming that your audience is familiar with it.  Finally, it’s always better to use a lighter expletive (such as “dagnabbit” instead of damn) if you aren’t sure it fits in.