I realized that I have been posting a lot about editing lately and not too much about writing.

Many of my clients speak about the challenge of starting a big writing project. The overwhelmed feeling that accompanies the thought of “where to begin” can result in inertia. If you don’t try, you can’t fail.

No matter what your project is, getting those first few words on paper can be critical. I often work with my clients to break down the writing process into more easily completed steps. I also help them set timelines so that all of the pieces are completed and ready to pull together by their deadline.

Some tips to get started:

1. Break down the tasks
2. Brainstorm an outline for each task
3. Tackle one small task and work to completion

Sometimes, setting deadlines for each task can be effective too. “I have 20 minutes to complete this step.”

Drafting one small piece will work wonders on your outlook of the project. “Well if it was so easy to get that done, I suppose that I could do this . . .”

This is a really simplistic solution to writer’s block; however the maxim of writing down something, anything is really the trick to getting unblocked. Quite often focusing on trivial steps can help break an author out of the blocks.

Here are some suggestions regarding writer’s block and writer’s anxiety from Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) – an excellent resource for any writer.