Launch Pad Publishing

     What’s all the talk about writer’s block? It’s like this big, mysterious, brick wall that goes up to the sky and a zillion miles to your right and left. It makes you feel stupid, inferior, lost, and hopeless, maybe even nauseous.

     A little melodramatic perhaps, but if you’ve experienced it, you know what I’m talking about.

     Here’s the thing… THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS WRITER’S BLOCK! Somebody who didn’t know how to approach their writing project one day, made it up. It was such a great reason to not write, that other people adopted it and spread it around like peanut butter on bread.

     Ok. So you don’t know where to start. That’s “not knowing where to start.” It’s not any block. You just need some direction, so we’ll talk about that in a sec.

     Or maybe you don’t know what to write about. That’s “not knowing what to write about.” It’s not a wall. You just need a topic.

     Perhaps you’ve run out of ideas. So you need some idea suggestions or somewhere to go to find them.

     Some people freeze up because they think they are poor writers or their grammar isn’t very good. Get an editor and don’t worry about that stuff. Talk your writing into a digital recorder and have someone transcribe it for you. Or use voice recognition software, like “Dragon Speaks.”Then you can do some editing yourself before you send it to your professional editor.

     Let’s tackle the issue of not knowing where to begin. Too often, people think they have to start at the beginning and really don't know what comes after "Once upon a time..." So they feel stuck. My solution is to start in the middle!

     Who said you have to start writing the beginning first? When they shoot a movie, do you think they shoot the scenes in order? Nope, not at all. Do composers start at the beginning of a piece when writing music? Hardly ever. And if they do start at the beginning, they may jump to the end next, before they compose the middle.

     That idea of starting your writing at the beginning came from your English teacher in grade school. As they say in New York,“Fahgettaboudit!”

     Write what’s on your mind at the time. Then write whatever you’re drawn to write next. We’ve got computers to help you be able to easily move things around. I remember when “cut and paste” literally required a pair of scissors and scotch tape. Then you had to RETYPE the entire document! (Some of you may remember those days. And for those of you who haven’t got a clue what I’m talking about, thank Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and all those other computer geeks.)

     Your approach may be a little different, depending on whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction and also on your purpose. Are you writing a book? An article? Is it just random?

     If you’re writing a random piece and don’t know what to write about, find a photo in a magazine that gets you thinking and write about that. Or pick three words randomly from a book or magazine (just put your finger on the word) and write a quick story that incorporates the words. You'll be amazed at what comes out.

     Now your creative juices are flowing, so any other writing you want to do will certainly be easier!

Happy Writing...

To Your Authorship Success!

Faye Levow

Your Book-Writing Coach & Publisher