Get started with writing

Task: Try out different techniques to release yourself from being stuck in a writing rut

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What to do

Choose from some of these tried and tested methods for getting down to writing. Experiment to see which works most effectively for you. If you need more ideas, download the more extensive list below.

  • Say it out loud to yourself
  • Record yourself
  • What: note down all the questions you can think of for a given topic
  • Where: in an ideas notebook (digital or paper) or a set of index cards
  • When: add questions at any time / at the beginning / when you get 'writer's block'
  • Why: questions focus your reading, help you structure and organise your writing, help you generate ideas and develop an idea further, stimulate revision, and can act as prompts for AI tools
  • Outline your main idea in a few words or in one sentence
  • Headings and bullet points, type out ideas as they occur, then choose one aspect and write about it
  • Come back later to reword what you have written
  • Write down everything you know about a topic
  • Free write, as fast as you can, don't bother about sentences or punctuation
  • Free association: connect together words, phrases
  • Create a list: irrelevant points can be crossed out
  • If you use generative AI, explore and evaluate the themes suggested by an AI to stimulate your thinking – you must think for yourself about how to work with, and beyond, the material presented
Download: Overcoming writer's block - more ideas

Do it:

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See also

Content from the Writing skills module

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