What to Write 2
Leslie Raketti
Working with local businesses to grow and scale by putting your business in front of people looking for your services
Yesterday the key pointers were 1) keep a dictionary on hand to make sure you are conveying the proper meaning of words, 2) start by putting something down and that likely will trigger other ideas and 3) be very clear on your reason why you are writing the article so that you are authentic and thus will relate/communicate better with your readers.
Today I going to borrow from my experience with Toastmasters, a great organization whose focus is on speech making.
One of the exercises we do to promote fast thinking is called table topics. Someone is given a topic and within 30 seconds he or she has to make a two-minute speech.
Over the years, I discovered a few techniques to get over that awkward phase when you don't know what to say or in our case what to write.
The first technique, if you are really stumped, is to repeat the question. This not only buys us time but it gives on a few moments to think on what to say next. You may do the same thing when you start to write pose a question, this gives you focus and then proceed to answer. In our case here, "What to Write?".
The second technique is to latch on to a word or an idea that reminds you of something else and then expand on that based on your experience or imagination. In the case here, I made the connection with Toastmasters as our predicament is similar when one is stumped and then I simply expanded on that.
A third technique is an avoidance, changing the context altogether and then speaking and writing on something completely different that you are more comfortable with.
"What to write, well that reminds me of the time that I was in a similar position of not knowing what to do. Here I was with my skis in hand on the top of a mountain faced with the decision to take the black diamond run [for experts] or to take a safer route down. A decision that for the rest of my life I will always ... "
You get the point.
So if you are facing writers' block 1) you can always start with making a statement about the topic you are about to discuss and likely it will trigger a more focused response. 2) Pick a word or phrase from that statement and borrow from your past experience or imagination. 3) Avoid the subject matter altogether if appropriate in the sense, "This reminds me of the time .." or "Today I would rather write something I think would much more interesting to my readers, it's about Aunt Martha ..."
Keep tuned to our next piece on "What to Write".
[Day 2 #30DS]