Knocking Out the Block

It happens to everyone. You get stuck on a project, and have no idea what to write. Writer's block can be a terribly frustrating thing, especially when you have a deadline to meet. Try these tips to knock out that block, and get on top of your writing again.

1. Narrow Your Choices

Often a topic is too broad to tackle on its own. It is very easy to become overwhelmed with the range of choices available to you. To cover everything would take pages and pages of work, and you are supposed to squeeze it all into a short article or essay. By picking a subject apart, you can in fact find enough to write several different articles.

Let's take a basic project assignment as an example. You have been asked to write about advertising, and how it works. This is a HUGE topic. Let's narrow things down a bit. You can decide to focus on one particular type of advertising. There is print advertising for newspapers, or magazines, or flyers. Or you can try television advertising, whether the regular shorts, or the longer advertorial productions. By choosing a narrow topic, you have a better chance of moving forward. You might even find as you research, that the narrow topic is still too broad and needs to be tightened.

2. Think Outside the Box

You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again. Thinking outside the box is essential to getting your work noticed. It is also an important part of getting past writer's block. Often the reason people get blocked is because they can only think of one possible solution to a problem. By looking around for alternate options, you can skirt that block and move forward.

In the advertising project it seems rather cut and dry. But in fact, there are lots of ways to look at things. You can view it from the consumer's point of view, where the ads are directed at the consumer as a persuasive tool. Instead, you could take it from the advertiser's point of view, following the thought patterns that create a good advertisement. To really get wild, you can look at the character's in an ad, and have them describe what they are doing. Not only can this break your block, but it can also make the project far more interesting in the long run.

3. Focus on Your Strengths

Some people are better at some things than others. While basic essay writing may not be your thing, you might be better able to express yourself in another way. Assess your skills, and see what might work for you. Are

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