How to beat writer’s block
Fear of the blank page is not just for novelists. Four of The Economist’s editors featured in our business-storytelling course explain how they overcome this common dilemma
“When you create something new you start with a blank canvas and there are infinite possibilities.” That is how Lane Greene, The Economist’s language columnist and the founder of our course, Professional communication: business writing and storytelling, introduces the subject of writer’s block. “Of all the ways to start a piece, you have to choose one…No wonder it seems daunting, and no wonder that the expression ‘writer’s block’ is so well known.”
Below, in edited quotes from a course video, four of The Economist’s journalists explain how they overcome writer’s block. You can hear more from all of them—and watch videos on structuring a document, communicating with numbers and more—by enrolling in our six-week programme. Our course covers reports, memos, presentations and social media posts, and will help you master the psychology, craft and purpose of business writing.
If I get stuck with a writing project, whether it’s at the start, in the middle or at the end, my aim is to get something down on the page. It might not be good; it might not even end up in the final draft. But having written something just gets you going. It gets you out of that rut.
Middle East editor
When you get stuck during a piece of writing it’s usually because, somewhere, you’ve wandered off the path of your article and you’re getting stuck in a thicket of digressions. When I get stuck, I tend to try and pick my way back to where I left the main path of the article. Then I put aside the extra material, because it might come in useful and you don’t want to waste anything, and I go back and try to take the straight path towards the conclusion.
Deputy editor
I typically find that, if I’m stuck, it’s a problem with the thinking rather than the actual writing process. My ideas about what I want to say or what I need to communicate to the reader are not fully formed yet. So, typically, that either requires more reading or, potentially, just more thinking.
Wall Street correspondent
Often I find printing out what I’ve got so far quite helpful: reading it on the page rather than on the screen sometimes gives you new ideas. Or I wake up early in the morning, having written something, and then look over it. The other thing that I sometimes find helpful is to talk to people about what I’m writing and try to explain to them the point I want to make. That process means you’re thinking differently about what you’re writing.
Business affairs editor
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Business writing and storytelling
The course explores the psychology, craft and purpose of writing with a focus on the choices writers must make—from words, phrases and metaphors to the sentences and paragraphs that make up creative expression.
