Plan carefully …Have you ever spent hours staring at a blank screen or piece of paper, unable to get started? This phenomenon is known as writer’s block. We all experience it once in a while, but for some people it becomes a frequent problem, reducing their writing productivity.
Everyone has their own way of beating writer’s block, and the list of tips below is made up of helpful suggestions from many sufferers. Among these ideas, you may find the right one to help you.
Plan carefully …
It is impossible to overemphasise the importance of planning. Meticulous preparation not only determines the quality of the finished product, it also affects your psychological approach to writing. If you have planned the whole of your project in advance, and broken it down into manageable chunks, you will:
• know what you are going to say in each section
• have confidence in your ability to complete it on time
• be able to start anywhere in the project, as convenient.
… Which includes having good notes
During your literature review or while you plan out your discussion, you will probably have made notes. Making good-quality notes can help enormously when you come to writing your first draft. For instance, you may write:
Smith and Jones (2012): grottomycin effective in sinusitis, large sample, other studies smaller.
However, it may be more helpful to include a critical comment in your notes:
Smith and Jones (2012): grottomycin effective in sinusitis, large sample, contradicts findings of other smaller studies.
It is also worthwhile making sure you can easily identify text you have directly copied from articles with the intention of editing it later. Consider highlighting such text or changing the font colour to ensure you do not inadvertently plagiarise (Chapter 19). Considerable time can be wasted if you are uncertain as to whether you are using your own text and have to source an original reference to check.
Start with the easy bits
It will help to build your confidence, and speed up your writing, if you start wherever seems easiest. You can do this if you have a good plan. Often, in an original research paper, the methods and results sections are the easiest places to start. You may well already have a written protocol for the methods. For the results, there will be relatively little choice about what you have to say, and again you will already have it written down in your lab book or a study report.
Go with the flow – and do not stop if you are winning
Perhaps the most important advice is: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ If your work is going well, and the writing flows in a continuous stream, do not stop until you begin to run out of energy or enthusiasm. When you do begin to flag, take a break (see below). Even when you come to the end of a section, do not automatically stop. Sometimes it helps to get down the first few sentences of the next section. That way, when you come back to it the next day, you will have the confidence-building feeling of having already made a start on the next task.
Take a break when you feel you need one …
You may need quite frequent breaks when concentrating hard – a ten-minute break every hour, or even every half-hour, is not too much. Taking a short break will not disrupt your concentration – in fact, it will help you to focus on the task in hand.
… But not for too long
Studies show that short breaks are the most effective in aiding concentration. Long breaks (say 20 minutes or more) do not provide any additional benefit, and may simply indicate that you are procrastinating.
Get away from it during breaks
When you take a break, do not just sit there – move around, go and talk to someone, or get some fresh air or exercise – you might even want to use your ten minutes to take a brisk walk, indoors or out, or even ride an exercise bike or do some exercises in your office.
Sleep on it if stuck
If you are stuck, and a short break does not help, it may be time to stop and do something else. Sleep on the problem, and in the morning you may come back to it with fresh ideas and enthusiasm.
Talk to someone
It may help to ask a colleague for help. Even simply talking about the problem to someone else, without looking for any particular advice, may be beneficial. Often, an ‘outsider’ will be able to provide a fresh viewpoint that gives you the impetus you need to get going again.
Write a ‘letter to Auntie’
If you are stuck trying to explain a complex concept, it can be helpful to imagine that you are writing to a non-expert about the topic. You might choose a favourite aunt, who is very interested in everything you do, but is not scientifically qualified. If you can explain your point to an interested lay person, you can be sure that you will have expressed yourself clearly. Then all you have to do is reintroduce the scientific terminology into your clear explanation, and you have suddenly solved your problem.
Read around the subject
Sometimes, you can get a fresh perspective by reading about the topic. There is nothing wrong with looking at how other writers have tackled the same problem. You can borrow ideas and approaches without using the same words.
Clear your desk
If other projects are cluttering up your desk, you will have two problems:
1. you will not be able to find all the papers you need for your current project
2. the clutter will distract you – it too is waiting for attention.
So, clear your desk of everything except the project in hand. If you have an in-tray, put it behind you, or in a cupboard, out of sight.
Think positively
This book is based on the belief that all scientists can learn how to write. Some of us may have more natural talent than others but, with a little encouragement and tuition, everyone can do it reasonably well. If, due to negative past experiences, voices tend to play in your head saying ‘I’m no good at this’ or ‘I’ll never be able do it in the time I have left’, try to replace them with positive thoughts. Think: ‘I can do this, I just have to complete all the sections of my plan’ or ‘You only have to finish one section today.’
Do not try to get everything right first time
You can get hopelessly stuck and dispirited if you keep going over and over the same sentence, trying unsuccessfully to get it just right. For most people, it is better to try to get something down for every section, even if you know it is far from perfect. Then you can go back and revise – having completed the first draft quickly, you will have plenty of time for revisions.
If stuck, just write
A standard technique for overcoming writer’s block involves simply writing the first thing that comes into your head, however ludicrous. The important thing is that it gets you started on the physical process of writing. You will soon find that your random musings turn into comprehensible thoughts about the subject in hand.
Write around missing information
If, in the middle of writing, you find that you do not have all the facts or references you need, do not waste time thinking or worrying about it, or break your concentration to go looking for them. Make a note to yourself in the manuscript about the missing information. To do this in Microsoft Word you can add a New Comment. Then you can save your queries up to be shared with a colleague or researched online at a convenient time.
Set crazy deadlines …
In Chapter 31, we will talk about setting real-life deadlines for your project. However, if you have writer’s block, it can also help to set yourself crazy, short-term deadlines. For example, you may say to yourself: ‘I have to get 200 words written by 15:00.’
… And reward yourself for meeting them
You can offer yourself rewards for meeting your crazy deadlines. ‘If I have written 200 words by 3 o’clock I will have a cup of coffee/go for a walk/telephone a friend.’ It is tempting to offer yourself rewards in the shape of food, but this can prove unhealthy in the long term, especially if you are writing a large thesis or a book!