Never Say, “I can’t think of anything to write.”

Do not say, “I can’t think of anything to write!” Those words guarantee the onset of a severe case of writers’ block. If those words do enter your conscious mind, then sit down at the computer or get out your journal and use them as a free write exercise.

Begin the first paragraph of the exercise with, “I can’t think of anything to write, but if I could think of something to write about, I would write about...” and then begin listing subjects, objects, animals, pets, people, etc. For instance, you could end the sentence with something like this. “I would write about the neighbor’s cat that walked across my backyard while I washed the breakfast dishes.” You then describe the cat. Write for five, ten, or fifteen minutes or until you get tired of writing.

During the free write, do not worry about spelling. Do not worry about grammar. Continue to write until the time is up or you have exhausted the subject. The free write is an exercise to get you started writing and to prove you can think of something to write. If you want to use the free write exercise as part of another document, then rewrite after you have completed the exercise.