I haven't yet really experienced real writer's block as such, but painter's block, plenty. With writing, talking to someone about an idea, making a mind-map or writing notes helps me get started. With a painting, I often have no idea what I want and end up just throwing paint on a canvas in the hope something will emerge.
Love this, Ted. For me, the best block-buster strategies are going for a walk, and-or talking the story through with a non-journalist. Telling someone about the gist of this interesting thing that I'm writing about helps to clarify the most compelling aspects of my material and steer me toward what I should showcase up-top. AP legend Harry Rosenthal used to call it the "Hey, Martha" method. What would you tell Martha about the story?
Ted, I really appreciate your honesty here it’s refreshing to see someone with decades of experience sit with a block and dissect it so clearly. I can relate to the “how should this be told?” paralysis; sometimes it’s not a lack of ideas but a lack of entry point.
One thing that helps me is what you hinted at with your Penn State analogy: break the story into the smallest possible chunk. Even if it’s just one scene, one anecdote, one detail, once you write that, the rest often flows around it. It’s like finding a foothold on a cliff before climbing.I write a paragraph that’s messy, even wrong, just to see where it goes. Often, the act of putting words on the page loosens the grip of the block and, as you pointed out, sometimes the first words never even end up in the final draft.
Finally, I find that talking through the story — even aloud to the dog, helps me hear the structure before I write it.
Thanks for sharing your process; I’m curious to see what strategies emerge from the comments I’ll definitely be taking notes.
Are you doing any teaching on writing at the moment？ I’ve found your stuff really useful.
I do quite a bit of it. Want to do a Zoom sometime and we can chat more about it? I have some writing workshop stuff you might be interested in.
Of course I’d love to 🤩 it sounds absolutely brilliant🤩Let me set up a new Zoom account I haven’t used the old one since the pandemic ended😅
I have a Zoom.
I’ll go get a new one 😁
I haven't yet really experienced real writer's block as such, but painter's block, plenty. With writing, talking to someone about an idea, making a mind-map or writing notes helps me get started. With a painting, I often have no idea what I want and end up just throwing paint on a canvas in the hope something will emerge.
I’d be interested to see what a mind map looks like for one of your stories.
I don’t think I can post a picture here as a reply, so I’ll write a note and tag you.
Love this, Ted. For me, the best block-buster strategies are going for a walk, and-or talking the story through with a non-journalist. Telling someone about the gist of this interesting thing that I'm writing about helps to clarify the most compelling aspects of my material and steer me toward what I should showcase up-top. AP legend Harry Rosenthal used to call it the "Hey, Martha" method. What would you tell Martha about the story?
Hi Nancy. You’re right, and I often take your nut graf advice to heart. Problem is this is more of a tone poem/essay. I’ll figure it out.
Ted, I really appreciate your honesty here it’s refreshing to see someone with decades of experience sit with a block and dissect it so clearly. I can relate to the “how should this be told?” paralysis; sometimes it’s not a lack of ideas but a lack of entry point.
One thing that helps me is what you hinted at with your Penn State analogy: break the story into the smallest possible chunk. Even if it’s just one scene, one anecdote, one detail, once you write that, the rest often flows around it. It’s like finding a foothold on a cliff before climbing.I write a paragraph that’s messy, even wrong, just to see where it goes. Often, the act of putting words on the page loosens the grip of the block and, as you pointed out, sometimes the first words never even end up in the final draft.
Finally, I find that talking through the story — even aloud to the dog, helps me hear the structure before I write it.
Thanks for sharing your process; I’m curious to see what strategies emerge from the comments I’ll definitely be taking notes.