When You Don't Know What to Write - 6 Options to Get You Moving

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both... "

One of my clients was writing a novel, and she was extremely frustrated. She had two different tracks she could follow, and she just couldn't decide which one to take. So she was stuck... and wasn't writing a thing.

I recommended that she use some strategies (tables, mind maps, and the like) to actually explore the two tracks. It wasn't just to help her decide what road to take. She was being respectful and acknowledging them. But just respecting and acknowledging wouldn't get her down one path; she still needed to decide what road she was going to take.

She was at a choice point. What track should she follow?

What do you do when you have two tracks you want to write about? Or you don't know which way to go with several different options ahead of you? How do you choose?

When I have that option in front of me, I use the strategies below to help me zero in just ONE.

Red dress. So what do you wear to a party? Usually a black cocktail dress (if you're a woman, that is). Guess what most other women are going to be wearing? Yep. Black cocktail dresses. The woman wearing the deep red dress is going to attract more attention. So, in figuring out what to write about, what is your red dress?

What's unusual? This is slightly different from the red dress above. What won't people expect? Sometimes it's the anti-expectation. I actually have a strategy in my Ready, Set, Write Toolbox that is called the Journalistic Anti-Inquiry Worksheet where you think in opposites. Answer the Who, What, Where, When, Why questions as you normally would, but then answer the same questions with the opposite answer or with what you would NEVER associate with that particular topic.

What's trendy? If it's trendy, then people will be familiar with the concept and therefore could be more likely to want to read what you've written. Hence a whole bunch of "Got ____?" slogans based on the "Got milk?" advertising campaign.

What's unexpected? One of the best air traveling experiences I had was solely because of one awesome flight attendant... "You're getting sleepy... you don't want drinks; you want to sleep." While that wasn't writing, per se, it certainly set him apart from the standard, droning speech you hear over and over on airplanes.

Where do you have the most energy? This might show up by where you have the most content. Or maybe where you are drawn to write - NOW. Follow your energy.

Be a prima donna. Just get attention. The very same flight attendant as referenced above advised us, in the case of cabin depressurization, to put our mask on first, and then next to put the mask on the child most likely to care for us in our old age. Yeah, by that point, we were paying attention!

Don't stay stuck at the crossroads or the choice point for too long. Pick a path, and start down it.