Your Writing Anxiety - 10 Ways to Bring Relief
by Lynda Blake

Anxiety, apprehension, cold feet, consternation, dismay, distress, dread, fear, fright, horror, nervousness, panic, scare, strain, stress, tension, terror, trepidation, unease or uneasiness: whatever its called, youve got it.

And the reason is ... youve got to write an article!

Writing anxiety or writers block happens to all writers at some point in their writing lives. It may be that you dont know what to write about or, with your topic firmly in place, you dont know where to start.

At this point, procrastination sets in.

Doing anything, rather than actually writing, seems a whole lot better than putting pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard. Even walking the dog, in pouring rain and gale-force winds, has higher priority!

Try some of these ways to restore your writing equilibrium:

1. Avoid starting with a blank page. Theres nothing more daunting than beginning from nothing. Work with a template. This will help you to stay focused on your topic. Download and print out some appropriate free graphic organizers from the Internet or use graphic organizer software, like NotateIt, that will help you to rearrange and organise your thoughts in freestyle format.

2. Brainstorm your topic. Take some time out for creative thinking with a friend or colleague. Youll get some new twists on the theme, especially if theyre not experts in your subject matter!

3. Write an outline. Just set out a list of headings. They dont even have to be in order - you can always rearrange them later. Write each heading on a separate card or piece of paper and shuffle the result. A new order may emerge that you hadnt thought of, giving you a new slant on your topic.

4. Use a whiteboard. Fix a large magnetic whiteboard on your wall and use it to rearrange your ideas. If a whiteboard on the wall feels too intrusive, try some inexpensive whiteboard software on your PC instead.

5. Break your task down into smaller chunks. From your outline, choose one heading and write. Then go on to another heading and write. It doesnt matter which order you write in, because it can all be rearranged later. Not only that, youre achieving your larger goal in a series of smaller steps and that makes it much more manageable.

6. Write in the way that you speak. Its friendlier to read and its an easier and more natural way for you to write.

7. Dont worry about perfection too soon. Spell checking, indenting paragraphs, changing font size - this is the icing on the cake. Just let your writing flow and, just for once, forget the grammar. Perfection can come later - at the redrafting stage.

8. Think about your readers in a different way. You may be anxious that your article is not good enough to be read by your peers. Remember, even if your audience are experts, they dont know what you think about your subject. Nor does it mean that they know everything there is to know about a subject area. Target your writing towards an intelligent, enthusiastic, but non-expert, reader and your writing confidence will grow.

9. Youve completed your writing. This is your first draft. The secret, now, is to redraft and redraft again. Youd be surprised at just how many things youll want to say differently when the sun rises tomorrow! Read your article once a day, make changes then put it aside until the next day. In a few days, youll read your article and find nothing to change. Thats when youre ready to publish!

10. Believe in yourself. The first articles you write may not be perfect but the more you write, the better your style will become. Its like learning to walk - all it takes is a little time and lots of practice.

(c) 2005 Lynda Blake

Youre welcome to reprint this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered, including the About the
Author info at the end.

"How to Start Your Own Home-Based Business, Or Boost Your Existing Business, with Private Label Resale Rights to Brand New, Exclusive Quality Software Products Each and Every Month" For full details, click here now