Writing every day helps keep writer's block away

by Stephen Wertzbaugher

Ask writers what terrifies them most about writing and many will reply, voices quavering, "Staring at a blank page." Whether it's a sheet of paper peeking out from a typewriter or the electronic sheet glaring from your word processor, there's something about staring at all of that blank whiteness that turns confident and productive writers to jelly. I would rather chew my own leg off to escape a bear trap than confront the barren desolation of the blank page.

But why does such an innocuous thing as a blank page cause such terror? Fear. Fear of not knowing what to say or how to say it. Fear of writing worthless trash that would make even a first grader turn up his nose. Fear of looking like a hack. And what does fear breed? Writer's block, one of the scourges of the writing profession. Even now, my writing demons are hovering over me, their crimson eyes greedy with the anticipated pleasure of preventing me from finishing this column.

Now that I have you shaking with terror as you sit in your comfortable chair I'm going to tell you how I avoid such writing nightmares. Ready? Are you sure? It's daily writing practice. "Daily what?" you ask. I'll say it again—daily writing practice. And what is daily writing practice? Daily writing practice is a fiction technique like free writing. But instead of starting with nothing and writing anything that pops into your head, you start with a "writing prompt" and then write anything that comes into your head. For example, if my writing prompt is "your worst nightmare," I might write a page or two about documenting the use of a Cray supercomputer with an Etch-a-sketch. 

Daily writing practice offers advantages to writers of any ilk. First, you are writing daily. Like athletes, writers must write regularly in order to gain proficiency and master their craft. How long should you practice? Some writers write for a certain amount of time, maybe fifteen or thirty minutes. Others write a certain number of pages. And remember that daily writing practice is just that—practice. You are allowed to make mistakes, goof up, be horrible, write drivel, write a single sentence that spans an entire page, not make any sense. You can write without criticism, either from yourself or from others. You are free to do what you want to do. And that kind of freedom breeds the confidence that will shatter fear of the blank page. Your writing will improve and so will your speed. Practicing daily also helps you find your writing voice. I know I'm writing to technical communicators here, but writing voice is important, even when documenting how to use a can opener. Dry, boring instructional and technical writing will lose the reader every time, and if we aren't educating our users, then who is? A scary thought, that.

So, how do you begin daily writing practice? One way is to create your own daily writing prompts in advance, write them on sheets of paper, put them into a hat, and then draw one out every day and write from that prompt. Fortunately, you don't have to invent your own writing prompts. One good source for daily writing practice is A Writer's Book of Days by Judy Reeves, Writer's Digest Books. Another source is the Writer's Digest Web site, which offers a daily writing prompt as well. Both of these resources were created to help fiction writers improve their writing, but I use them to help me with my technical writing as well.

Terror of the blank page is one of the most prevalent fears among writers. But that fear can be overcome and eliminated with daily writing practice, a technique that not only helps you master your craft, but gives you the confidence and courage to face that white-faced scourge of the writing profession.

For other ways to combat and defeat your writing demons, read Deb Lockwood's article, "Tips from the Trenches," also in this issue of Technicalities.