5 Prewriting Strategies That Will End Your Blank Page Blues

If your job requires significant daily writing, there are times when you need a mental jumpstart to keep your work fresh. Everything from simple e-mails and memos on one end, to creating web pages and writing your company’s daily blog on the other, can be subject to the dreaded writer’s block.

A helpful way to encourage the flow of fresh ideas is to use a process called prewriting. In general, it's a process that helps you put the metaphorical pen to paper, which can help declutter your brain and get your ideas organized.

5 successful prewriting strategies    

1. Brainstorming       

You can use brainstorming alone or with your team. When your team brainstorms, one member of the group invariably breaks through writer’s block soon after you begin. This prewriting strategy generates a ton of information in a short time because you write down every idea without judging whether or not it's good or bad. Everything is fair game.

Take your general topic and jot down all the possible terms relating to the topic you can. As you go, you'll build an association of terms piggy-backing on previous terms you have listed. Don't worry about editing or grouping the terms initially; the point is to list as many things as possible. When you hit a lull, start grouping the terms in arrangements that make sense to you. Next, give each group a label that becomes a potential topic later. As you group your ideas, you'll suddenly have robust outline with ideas for each paragraph.

2. Clustering, or mind-mapping       

Clustering allows writers to "map" the concepts they have in mind to a bigger picture. Start by writing a central subject down in the middle of the page or whiteboard, and circle it. Picture your main idea as the trunk of a tree, and all your subsequent ideas are its branches. The idea is to have several sets of words relating to the core with even more subsets, which will allow you to see how these other ideas connect to the core topic and each other.

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3. Freewriting       

Sometimes, getting started is the hardest part of the writing process. Frustrated writers should remove all distractions, such as a cell phone, and consider shutting their office door. Freewriting allows is meant to be done without thinking about grammar and spelling errors or context. The key is for writers to think as they write, instead of stopping and starting. You may be surprised at what information you find on the page when you’re free to put down everything you have in your head. 

4. Outlining       

Outlining is a tried and true method that will help you organize your thoughts and how they'll flow together throughout whatever you're writing. This method is of greatest benefit anytime you're writing something that's 1,000 words or longer. You can use complete sentences, short phrases, or a combination of both. Don't worry if it's just one word, you can fill in the gaps once you've completed your outline.

5. Looping       

Looping is a freewriting technique that allows you to focus your ideas to discover a writing topic. You loop one 5-10 minute freewriting after another, creating a sequence of freewriting, with each subsequent set being more specific and clear than the previous one. The same rules that apply to freewriting also apply to looping: write quickly do not edit, and do not stop.

Freewrite on a topic for 5-10 minutes. Then, read through your work, looking for interesting topics, ideas, phrases, or sentences. Circle those you find interesting. A variation on looping is to have a co-worker circle ideas in your freewriting that interests him or her. Then freewrite again for 5-10 minutes on one of the circled topics. Eventually, you'll end up with a much stronger and specific topic. 

Practice these prewriting strategies 

It takes trial and error. You may discover that not all of these prewriting strategies work for you. But with time and practice, you'll find a process that eases your writer's block. Remember to keep all ideas you come up with, even if you can’t see yourself writing about the subject. In six months, that idea may spark an “a-ha” moment in your head that leads to your best writing yet.

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