Writing tip Wednesday: “Cat got your keyboard?”

by DAVID E. BOOKER

Stuck? Writing stuck? No, not writer’s block, just not quite sure what to do next or even how to start that article, story, or novel? Here are three suggestions that might help. There are plenty of others, so if these don’t help, don’t hesitate to look for something that will. You only fail at writing when you don’t try.

1) Write a letter
Put what you want to say in letter form. The writer Tom Wolfe once was stuck on an article he was doing on stock car racing. He had spent time researching and talking with drivers, mechanics, and any number of people. He had the information, but he couldn’t quite figure out how to write. His deadline was fast approaching, but he couldn’t get traction. Finally, he called the editor at the magazine where the article was to appear and explained he couldn’t write the article. He would type up his notes and send them in and the editor could find somebody else to write the piece. So, he wrote up the information in a letter form and sent it in. When the editor received it, he immediately saw that it was an almost complete article just the way it was. The editor and Tom Wolfe made a few edits and adjustments to the piece and it was published pretty much as Tom Wolfe had written – that is, like a letter.

2) Keep several things going
The late Isaac Asimov, author of over 500 books (fiction and non-fiction), used to keep two or three writing projects going at the same time. That way, if he got stuck on one, he would turn to work on another. Once when asked what would he do if he was told he had only six months to live, he replied, “Type faster.” Keeping two or three things going at once can help prevent you from getting stuck on any one piece of work.

3) Free writing
Free writing is writing what comes to mind without regard to how it fits into what you “need” to be writing or even what may be the next sentence. Sometimes to get going in the “write” direction, you need a little gibberish to get you going. Maybe even write a silly poem, like
Roses are red
violets are blue
I suck at writing poetry
how about you?

Do free writing for about fifteen minutes and see if gets you going.

These are not the only ways to get your writing unstuck, but whatever you use, I hope you realize from these examples that even published and prolific authors can get stuck, too.