Your Writing Anxiety - 10 Ways to Bring Relief
Anxiety, apprehension, cold feet, consternation, dismay,
distress, dread, fear, fright, horror, nervousness, panic,
scare, strain, stress, tension, terror, trepidation, unease or
uneasiness: whatever it's called, you've got it.
And the reason is ... you've got to write an article!
Writing anxiety or 'writer's block' happens to all writers at
some point in their writing lives. It may be that you don't know
what to write about or, with your topic firmly in place, you
don't know where to start.
At this point, procrastination sets in.
Doing anything, rather than actually writing, seems a whole lot
better than putting pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard.
Even walking the dog, in pouring rain and gale-force winds, has
higher priority!
Try some of these ways to restore your writing equilibrium:
1. Avoid starting with a blank page. There's nothing more
daunting than beginning from nothing. Work with a template. This
will help you to stay focused on your topic. Download and print
out some appropriate free graphic organizers from the Internet
or use graphic organizer software, like NotateIt, that will help
you to rearrange and organise your thoughts in freestyle format.
2. Brainstorm your topic. Take some time out for creative
thinking with a friend or colleague. You'll get some new twists
on the theme, especially if they're not 'experts' in your
subject matter!
3. Write an outline. Just set out a list of headings. They don't
even have to be in order - you can always rearrange them later.
Write each heading on a separate card or piece of paper and
shuffle the result. A new order may emerge that you hadn't
thought of, giving you a new slant on your topic.
4. Use a whiteboard. Fix a large magnetic whiteboard on your
wall and use it to rearrange your ideas. If a whiteboard on the
wall feels too intrusive, try some inexpensive whiteboard
software on your PC instead.
5. Break your task down into smaller chunks. From your outline,
choose one heading and write. Then go on to another heading and
write. It doesn't matter which order you write in, because it
can all be rearranged later. Not only that, you're achieving
your larger goal in a series of smaller steps and that makes it
much more manageable.
6. Write in the way that you speak. It's friendlier to read and
it's an easier and more natural way for you to write.
7. Don't worry about perfection too soon. Spell checking,
indenting paragraphs, changing font size - this is the icing on
the cake. Just let your writing flow and, just for once, forget
the grammar. Perfection can come later - at the redrafting stage.
8. Think about your readers in a different way. You may be
anxious that your article is not "good enough" to be read by
your peers. Remember, even if your audience are "experts", they
don't know what you think about your subject. Nor does it mean
that they know everything there is to know about a subject area.
Target your writing towards an intelligent, enthusiastic, but
non-expert, reader and your writing confidence will grow.
9. You've completed your writing. This is your first draft. The
secret, now, is to redraft and redraft again. You'd be surprised
at just how many things you'll want to say differently when the
sun rises tomorrow! Read your article once a day, make changes
then put it aside until the next day. In a few days, you'll read
your article and find nothing to change. That's when you're
ready to publish!
10. Believe in yourself. The first articles you write may not be
perfect but the more you write, the better your style will
become. It's like learning to walk - all it takes is a little
time and lots of practice.
(c) 2005 Lynda Blake
You're welcome to reprint this article online as long as it
remains complete and unaltered, including the "About the Author"
info at the end.