Overcoming Obstacles to Greater Productivity

Every writer experiences it sometime: you know you should be writing but you just can't get down to it. Or maybe you plan to write at a certain hour but then you think of something else you need to do first and you decide to do that. Afterwards, you promise yourself that this time you will start writing as soon as you finish whatever you have to do. Whatever your obstacle, you can try to overcome it by following one of these four tips:

1. The Guilt-Trip Approach:

You think about how you would feel the morning after, when you realize that yesterday was a total loss. You produced zero words and your unwritten scenes are still there, waiting for you. That feeling of guilt or low self-esteem can often serve to make you more determined to stick to your schedule.

2. The Heroic Approach:

You think about one of your writing heroes, Shakespeare, Hemingway, Balzac, or whoever you admire most, not only for their books but for the way they confronted obstacles. Balzac, for example, worked best in almost total silence. His solution was to work from midnight when the city was silent, throughout the night until midday of the following day. Hemingway, like Balzac, was a master of self-discipline. He would get up at break of day and go at once to his improvised writing desk. He would then write until midday, quitting when he knew what his next words would be in the following writing session.

3. The Just-Do-It Approach:

You think about your theme and just write whatever you know about it. You will often find that this free-writing gives you just the edge you need to start writing the scene you have scheduled. This approach is more effective if you prime your sub-conscious the night before by going over the scene in your mind. The free-writing you do brings up the scene that has been processed by your sub-conscious the night before.

4. The Minimum Approach:

You decide to write one sentence of your scene or article just to save some of your self-esteem. You will often find that instead of writing only one sentence you feel obliged or inspired to write several more. Your innate sense of order as a writer, of not wanting to leave something only half-written, has forced you to write more.

Writing can often be hard but if you use some of the tricks that have been used by other writers you will find it much easier. As a writer, you improve with each writing session. The more you write the better you become and you can write even on those days when you feel that no writing is possible.

Writing Books

Although there are many books on the craft of writing, only a few have bridged the gap between writing for the printed page and writing for the Web. In this article I will write about some of the books that teach the basics of writing, how to craft an article, and how to come up with ideas for stories.

THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE
One of the books that can be of great help to any writer is the classic by Strunk and White called 'The Elements of Style'.

This slim volume can teach you how to become a master of the English language. If you follow its 7 rules of usage, its 11 principles of composition, and heed a few principles of style, you cannot help becoming a good writer.

It is a marvel of terse writing, setting aside long-winded explanations for simple, direct sentences that tell the reader what he needs to know. His exhortations to "Omit needless words!" have been observed throughout the book.

ON WRITING WELL
Another book that should be in every writer's library is 'On Writing Well' by William Zinsser. Subtitled 'The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction' it is a master class on how to write articles and essays.

Mr. Zinsser draws on his years of writing hundreds of articles for the major magazines to pinpoint the little mistakes that can jeopardize a good article.

He emphasizes that the lead is the most important part of the article because this is what will encourage the reader to either continue reading or to jump to another article.

Equally important is an article's ending because, if it is well written, the reader will be left with a feeling of having learned something and the desire to learn more. Mr. Zinnser uses excerpts from his past articles to show how he achieved the desired effects in his compositions.


ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING
Ray Bradbury'S 'Zen in the Art of Writing' is a book that can teach the writer how to be more creative and how to find his own voice. Mr. Bradbury is a legendary voice in science-fiction with scores of novels and short stories, as well as film scripts and poetry, to his credit.

Of particular interest to writers is his method of finding ideas to write about. His approach is to go deep down into one's childhood memories and remember the things that caused the most impression. You can use the images of your childhood fears and joys as building blocks to craft a short story or a longer piece.

THE WEEKEND NOVELIST
Another book that can teach you the nuts and bolts of writing novels is 'The Weekend Novelist' by Robert Ray. His approach is to teach you how to write a novel in 52 weekends. Each weekend you will work on one aspect of your novel, beginning with a portrait of the protagonist and her back story. Other characters are then introduced who will continue with the story.

His method of dividing the novel into three acts and several major scenes is reassuring because writing a novel can be a daunting task. You can work on any scene at any time once you have written the major scenes. These will serve as beacons to guide you in your writing.

By dividing the task into 52 weekends, he decreases the anxiety that any writer faced with the blank page can experience. Another positive aspect is his use of Aristotle's Incline to keep the writer on track. You can use this tool at any time to see if you are heading in the right direction, especially if you begin to feel the symptoms of writer's block.

BREWER'S DICTIONARY OF PHRASE AND FABLE
Another valuable book that every writer should have is Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Though not a writing manual per se, it is a mine of information, of anecdotes, and of those names and events that most of us are not familiar with. It is also an excellent recourse for the writer in need of ideas around which to weave a story or article.