“The perfect is the enemy of the good.”- Voltaire
One of the biggest challenges writers face is simply getting started. Whether the task is a brief, a research memo, marketing copy, or even an important business letter, the tyranny of the blank page can paralyze writers before they even get started.
When writers experience this kind of block, it’s often because they are being critical of their work too early in the process. The writer’s worries, critical self-talk, and nitpicky grammar questions stop the writing process before it begins, a classic example of the perfect being the enemy of the good. Lawyers and businesspeople, particularly new associates under pressure to prove themselves, are especially prone to this type of paralysis. In law school and business school, we are trained to be critical readers, to look for the holes and errors, and to strive for perfection. While this kind of perfectionism may be helpful in your career, it will not serve you well during the initial drafting process.
In her famous article Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge: Roles and the Writing Process, Betty S. Flowers suggests that at the initial drafting phase, writers must temporarily shut out their critical, perfectionist side and simply free-write, getting out as many ideas as possible immediately. Flowers describes it this way:
“What happens when you get stuck is that two competing energies are locked horn to horn, pushing against each other. One is the energy of what I’ll call your ‘madman.’ He is full of ideas, writes crazily and perhaps rather sloppily, gets carried away by enthusiasm or anger, and if really let loose, could turn out ten pages an hour.”
“The second is a kind of critical energy-what I’ll call the ‘judge.’ He’s been educated and knows a sentence fragment when he sees one. He peers over your shoulder and says, ‘That’s trash!’ with such authority that the madman loses his crazy confidence and shrivels up. You know the judge is right – after all, he speaks with the voice of your most imperious English teacher. But for all his sharpness of eye, he can’t create anything.”
“So you’re stuck. Every time your madman starts to write, your judge pounces on him.”
Next time you find yourself a victim of the tyranny of the blank page, try sending your “judge” on sabbatical. Write something; write anything, and worry about cleaning it up and making it presentable in the later stages. Try these steps:
1. Research first. Gather as much of the information you need as you can before you start writing. It’s distracting to have to stop writing to look things up.
2. Write like no one’s watching. We’ve all heard the expression “dance like no one’s watching.” It means “dance without worrying what anyone else thinks.” That’s how you should begin to write. Get as many of your ideas as possible on paper without stopping, remembering that the cleanup will come later and you don’t have to worry about it right now.
3. Take a break, not only because you’ve earned it, but because your brain needs a break from the subject matter before you can be an effective editor of your work.
4. Organize. Take a look at what you’ve written, and begin to organize it in a way that makes sense for your document. If it’s a story, perhaps chronological order will work best. For an argument, you will want to go in a logical sequence that leads the reader towards your desired conclusion. Some people like to make an outline at this point to organize their thoughts. Whichever method you choose, think like your readers and organize in a way that will make sense to them.
5. Edit. Now is the time for your critical side to have a go at your writing. Correct spelling and grammar errors, tighten up the language, eliminate jargon and passive verbs to the extent possible, and read it through to make sure your organizational structure works for your piece.
6. Take another break. Much as I like you, I’m not just being kind – you need to step away from your writing before you can edit it effectively. Better yet, give it to someone else to read. You’ll be amazed at the errors a fresh pair of eyes can find.
7. Edit again. And again.- Good writing is really good revising. Make sure you’ve gone through at least two rounds of editing before your piece is finished.
The key to overcoming writer’s block is to take the steps in order. Don’t worry about organization or grammar while you’re doing your first draft; just write something. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. By making your inner critic wait outside the office door, you might just find you have the room you need to get started.