Un-blocking writer's block

     I have taught thousands of people a few simple methods that can help you make your scribblings into effective writing, and without agony.

     Those methods are built around focus, organization,  transitions, and today's item: All of you are bi-lingual.

     No, I don't mean you know both English and Spanish or some other country's language.  I mean you know Spoken English and Written English.  And they often are very different.

     If English is your first language, you began to learn Spoken English very early, possibly even before you were born, according to some scientists.  If you were like most children, it was three to five years later when you began to learn the second English language, Written English.

     Because many words and phrases of Spoken English and Written English are similar or the same, the two languages deceptively seem like they are one, but they are not.

     If you doubt this, listen to some good conversation or even court testimony and then read the transcript, as I have done often for professional reasons.  Notice how the person when speaking may seem intelligent and eloquent.   But then see how the same words on paper look clumsy, awkward, maybe even unintelligible.

     The language that works well for our ears generally does not work with our eyes.  Want more proof?  How much fun is it to listen to a highly educated person whose written language styles have displaced the common spoken language the rest of us use each day?  He'll kill your attention in less than five minutes.

     For most of us, we think in our spoken language, and therein lies the first big problem most people have in writing.

     Your writing ultimately stems from the thoughts in your mind. However, your thoughts first take form in the spoken language (we talk to ourselves in our heads).

    Your thoughts do not take form in the structure and phrases necessary for the written language.

     How many times have you said, "I know what I want to say, but I just can't write it."

     The biggest problem at that point is that you don't realize that you are trying to translate your views from one language to another, from Spoken English to Written English.

     It is hard enough to get organized and recall what you want to say without also having to simultaneously translate from one language to another.  For those of you who do know Spanish or another foreign tongue, you will recognize that you often get your thoughts clear in English before you translate into Spanish, etc.

     Well, spare yourself some agony, and do the same thing when translating your thoughts from the Spoken English to the Written English.  Let the words tumble out of you just as they come from your mind.

    Don't torture yourself by trying to "fix them" right away. Just get your thoughts on paper (or screen) and keep going until they are all out.

     At this point in your draft, don't worry about grammar, punctuation, spelling, syntax or word choices. 

Just gush. 

     Gush the words forth as they rush from your mind and out through your finger tips.  Yes, it will look like garbage at that point.   So what?  Who cares?  Who's looking?  It's only your final draft that counts.

     Then it will be time to go back to translate (edit) the clumps of words into the structure and words necessary for the Written English language.

     Oh, you say you don't have time to do spill it all out and then translate (edit) it into cleaner, final form.  Well, my friend, I assert that it will take you longer to produce a good, final product the other way (attempting to write in final form as it comes out of your mind).

      Yes, some professional writers can sometimes produce pretty good stuff in final form during one sitting.  But few can do it well very often.

    These writing tips by themselves can solve a major problem for you, but they alone will not equip you to produce expert level writing. That takes so much more, which I will elaborate on in future free seminar tips at this site