WRITER'S BLOCK: LIST YOUR POINTS

If there are some things you absolutely want to be sure to cover in whatever you're writing, it's important to write them down before you get started.  Donald M. Murray has written several books on writing (e.g., Writing to Deadline: The Journalist at Work, A Writer Teaches Writing Revised, Shoptalk: Learning to Write with Writers), and this "tip" is referred to often.

This is not to say that you cannot free write and get all your points covered.  However, if the points are essential to you, better to put them down so you can refer to them as you free write.  Your unconscious will then know to refer to them.

Points may refer to fiction as well as to nonfiction.  If you're writing a short story or a novel, as you move along, likely you will notice that there are points you don't want to forget to include.   Write them down somewhere visible.

Having them visually handy can move your writing process along so that you circumvent writer's block.

One further point, nor was this a point in my "points" list.   While "points" may pop up at any time in your free writing or focused writing, it is not necessary to have prepared points to come to a finished piece.  This may sound contradictory to the point of this post.  But the essential point of any of my posts is to keep writing.  That is absolutely the most important task of the writer or wannabe writer.