WRITER'S BLOCK

All writers, even professionals, suffer from this at times. For a user manual writer there are two distinct causes:

· Internal - psychological reasons · External - lack of co-operation from information providers

Internal writer's block

This occurs when all necessary information is available to the writer, but he/she does not know how to start the project.

There are a number of solutions:

· Prepare an outline or plan. One of the causes of internal writer's block is being confronted with too many options. By developing a plan you narrow the options and have a clearer idea of the structure of the project.

· Be prepared to write badly and edit well. Nobody gets it right the first time, so just start writing the first thing that comes in to your head, irrespective of good grammar, spelling, and style, and keep writing for about ten minutes. After that time have a look at what you have written, and be prepared to scrap some or all of it.

· By forcing yourself to write you should find that ideas start to flow. Writing this way is far less stressful than trying to write perfect copy the first time.

· Start in the middle, selecting a topic on which you have the most confidence.. Gradually fill in the missing topics, if necessary leaving the first chapter to last. The introduction is often the hardest part to write. By completing everything else first you will have a clearer idea of what to put in the introduction.

External writer's block