How to put words on a blank page.

Your fingers hover over the keyboard. A blank page stares back at you. Your mind struggles to form sentences. How do you actually write?!

Well, everyone's different. What works for you might not work for me. So here's a variety of techniques to get your draft started. Experiment and combine these to find your optimal workflow.

Diction

Good writing is good speaking, and vice versa. Try a diction program if you're confident talking but struggle to put your thoughts to paper. iOS has a diction function built into its keyboard. Google Docs has voice typing, and Microsoft Word has dictate.

Long hand

There is nothing like putting a pencil on paper. Some enjoy writing their first draft out longhand because it forces them to focus on the context. There is more thought behind every word and sentence. It also minimizes distractions abundant on computers. People I've met who enjoy longhand retype their second onto a computer program. They revise and edit as they type, giving them a second draft. Legal pads and lined notebooks are great for this practice.

Writing Sprints

I associate writing sprints with the Pomodoro Technique. It is a time management tactic. You perform focused work uninterrupted for 25 minutes. Then, take a 5-minute break. Stretch, walk around, make tea. Repeat 3 more times before taking a longer thirty-minute break.

You can adjust the writing sprints to your preferences. I once met a published author who wrote entire novels in sets of 5-minute sprints and 1-minute breaks. However, you could go longer, 45-minute sprints with 9-minute breaks. I recommend taking a longer break or switching tasks after 2-3 hours.

Outlines

Outliners are like master architects. They lay out detailed floor plans. They know how every room fits with one another and what's going inside every room.

An outline is like a dissected summary before you have anything to summarize. If you are confident in your skeleton, it is easier to fill in the meat.

Outlines require a lot of foundational knowledge. It front-loads the work with research so you can paint by the numbers.

My personal favorite is Word Vomit.

Concerns about syntax and spelling can interrupt my flow. It is pomoduro or Pomudoro? Present or past tense? First or third-person perspective?

The word vomit method sets those concerns aside and just focuses on your thoughts. I use the Notepad app on my PC since it does not have spell check or formatting, and I just write. I write until my brain is empty or according to a writing sprint. If there is a gap in my knowledge or something I am unsure of, I make a note with brackets and keep writing.

With all my thoughts barfed up, I can step back and assess. Where do I need more research? How should I structure this information?

For larger projects, I revise as I go—a session of word vomiting followed by a session of revising. Like Longhand, I retype the content into a proper word processing program, editing as I go.

Conclusion: A first draft doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be written.

The first draft will be the worst version (hopefully). Once you have a foothold at the bottom, it's much easier to climb.