#300words & writers block? Ten remedies
#virtualwritingworkshop #300wordson3daysfor3weeks
Have you hit a writing roadblock already?
Here is how to fix it!
Remedy: read more about your topic, search for relevant literature.
When it is hard to write about a topic, sometimes it is because your understanding of the topic is too limited. So, the best way forward is to read more… here is how:
- Read more widely – find some new sources about your topic… a different journal from a different publisher than the one you usually select from! Broaden your horizons – just be sure that you are not selecting from a weak or unreliable source or publisher. Try a different database…
- Ask your librarian to help you with a search for relevant sources… they will probably be able to surprise you with a new search strategy… they are experts in finding the right literature to match the right question.
- Review the reference list of your already gathered literature… are there some articles that you have overlooked that might also be helpful.
- Visit the WHO mental health website they have some interesting mental health publications that might widen your approach to the topic.
- Ask yourself about the setting/context you are writing about… is it local, regional, national, or international. Do you need to expand a little further… Discuss in the local context in a wider setting perhaps, then compare and contrast between your setting in the context of a wider geography/demography.
- What is the clinical relevance of your writing. Is there a clinical implication you can state and discuss.
- Surf a little on reseachgate! Search about your topic area… are their some interesting authors you can follow, have they shared some resources that are useful to stimulate your thinking further?
- Check out the twitter action about current healthcare conferences… search a relevant # You can find them here:
- https://www.symplur.com/healthcare-hashtags/conferences/ Do something else… try again tomorrow! But, DO try again! Some days are not as easy to be sufficiently creative as other days.. for lots of personal, professional reasons… or just because the ideas have not percolated sufficiently and processed enough yet in your own mind. Time will fix that – be patient with yourself, don’t give up and just be kind enough to yourself : take a walk… outside… listen to some outside nosies… feel some outside air on your face… view the skyline… stretch… come back to it all again tomorrow – or the next day!
- Talk to a trusted colleague… ask for their tips about overcoming writing block. And, above all – you should know that this is normal! Even the best and most prolific authors have moments of self doubt, block and believe it not …. they too can be stuck for words! So, you are in good company!
There are many more tips that can be added to the list… but ten is a good start! Hopefully one of them hits the spot for you and spurs you on in your #300wordson3daysfor3weeks