Getting reps through writing garbage
How free writing can help you get over writer's block.
The dreaded writer’s block
Even though writing can help you think deeply, not everyone wants to write that way. There is, however, no escaping writing at work.
Whether you need to make slides for a presentation, submit a Jira ticket, or reply to an email, you’re going to write at work.
Like everything, the less you practice writing the less comfortable you are with it.
And, to make matters more difficult, we face two types of writer’s block at work.
The reasons are unsurprising: the fear of the blank page and lack of time.
The blank page
This is common to anyone who tries to write. We get stuck on what to say next or what to say at all.
Whether you make an outline first or you are going in cold, you come to a point where your brain just stops. You forget what words are or how a sentence ends.
This is usually because you have an outcome in mind, but what you’re writing bears little resemblance to your grand idea.
Getting to that end point, though, requires writing and rewriting over multiple drafts — in other words, more time.
Time constraints
We are jumping from meeting to meeting, so finding uninterrupted time to write feels hopeless.
And when we are not in meetings, something is always due. Your manager may ping you and ask to see the “latest and greatest” version of a slide so they can give input.
No one wants to show their manager a piece of turd first draft of anything.
What do we do when we have writer’s block at work?
Well, we can’t sit there and stare at a blank screen because we have deadlines. The deck is due tomorrow by noon and you need your manager’s feedback.
Instead of not saying anything, we write something.
We either copy and paste from other decks, reports, or documents. We may edit a line or two. But mostly it’s a Girl Talk mash-up of materials.
Or we just whip out generic jargon from our brains to satisfy ourselves because we have something to fill the page.
Or maybe we throw something into ChatGPT for help. Maybe we edit a line or two from that.
I’m not judging. I do these, too. And they generally work. Why create something from scratch?
But these shortcuts don’t help us develop our own writing skills and they certainly don’t help us develop our own thoughts.
To do so, we need to get more comfortable with writing.
So how do we start?
Whatever the case may be, there is no better way to overcome the “but-but-but...” rut like writing.
Free writing is a great exercise to begin.
My wife, who is a writing professor at Samford University, likens starting to write anything to turning on an old faucet. You need to get the brown water out before you can start to get the clean water. She likes to use this exercise, which was pioneered by the late Dr. Peter Elbow, with her students as a low-stakes warm-up.
Free writing is, as the name implies, an exercise where you let go of self-imposed rules and just write. Whether it’s a polished thought or not — and it won’t be — all you do is write.
Benefits of free writing:
It’s less stressful when you aren’t worried about being perfect.
When you force yourself to just keep going, you find out what information is more readily accessible and what information you need to work harder to retrieve.
It builds the writing muscle.
At the end of the exercise, you can keep what you jotted down or throw it away.
You may find that one sentence or hopefully a few sentences are actually worth keeping. Or they can be made better over a few drafts. But that’s not the main point. Your only aim is to keep writing the whole time.
Set a timer for 20 minutes and just write without stopping. If you can’t think of a word or a sentence, just write anything.
The goal is to really suspend judgment while you write. Whatever you write, it will be garbage. Every first draft is going to be bad.
What I am not saying is that quality does not matter. Obviously, we don’t want to write ‘potato’ one thousand times in twenty minutes (can anyone do it faster than that?).
The idea is keep moving. The hardest part is not freezing up. Feeling the pressure of the clock, we stress over what the right thing to say is, instead of saying anything.
So, write whatever comes to your mind.
Over time, you will find yourself getting more efficient and less off topic.
You’ll also find that the words come more naturally.
This will build up your muscle memory and make it easier to have more solid first drafts.
Here are some prompts to help you with this 20-minute exercise:
Infuriating email: Take an email that someone sent you that you disagree with. Say why you disagree with them. Just remember to not hit send!
Uesless meeting: Find your most meaningless meeting and write how you can make it better or get rid of it.
No amount of “just start” advice will get you to overcome these mental blocks. It is something you cannot just rationally know, it is something you have to feel it in your gut that you’ll be okay.
And you will be okay!
One word of caution: free writing is not something I would test out on a high-stakes document.
For example, I wouldn’t take time to write four drafts for a deck (that is due tomorrow by noon!). Take a low-stakes pet project and start drafting.
Thanks for reading.
Stephen
What is the hardest part of writing your first draft? Let me know in the comments.