All papers and essays are supposed to be answers to a question. That's what they're for. So to start one, the idea is to get clear about what you're supposed to write about, and then see what you have to work with.
Here's what you do.
You find an old envelope and a felt-tipped pen, then grab your jacket, and head out for a walk. You're going to jot some things, but you need distance from the big, scary question you've been asked to write about first. There's something about the gentle distractions on a walk, combined with the safety from office harassment, that calms most of us enough to think about the project at hand. If you'd rather sit in a quiet room to do this, fine. Just be ready to head outside if your thoughts get all tangled up and overwhelming there.
Once you feel like you're in your own safe space -- and it may take a long time until your body is through panicking -- have a nice, slow think about the question you've just been asked to write about. If it wasn't asked as a question, you rephrase whatever was said into a question, so you can answer it. If the command to write came to you as, say, 'Discuss trout fishing in Quebec', which isn't a question at all, you rearrange it to say something answerable in specifics, like, 'What things should we know about trout fishing in Quebec?' Or perhaps it's 'Why should people go trout fishing in Quebec?' You decide, or get clarification on what the boss or the teacher wants. Take your time with this. There's no going forward until you're sure about what question you're supposed to answer.
When you're sure about what your eventual reader wants to know, close your eyes and start free-associating. Get ready to jot. Here comes the messy beginning of a good piece of writing. Ask yourself the question once more, out loud if you need to, and watch for absolutely any image or word that appears in your mind. Something will come. As soon as it does, jot it, in 3 or 4 words. Jot it even if it seems silly. Do not repress. Nothing you can think of is wrong or silly. You'll be amazed in the end what your mind can release when it isn't scared or overregulated. (Children are more creative than we are, as a rule, because they're neither scared nor overregulated most of the time.) When the next image or word comes, jot it on its own line, separate from the one that came before. And just keep going. Do this as long as you can. Don't analyse any of it. Don't worry about the order, either. Just let it all splat where it falls. Be patient, be gentle, and have some fun with it.
Now go back to your workspace. Open a word processing document, and name it 'What should we know about trout fishing in Quebec?', or whatever your big, scary question is. At the top of the document, centered, put that question, so you won't forget it. Then down the page, not centered, type out all your jottings, just as you jotted them. Remember to keep each idea on its own line; don't run them together in a big mass.
There! That's the information dump. It's Step One. It may or may not be a lot, but now you have something to work with.
In another article I'll explain what to do if you need to do this with more information than what's in your head. That's where the techniques of researching come in.
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For 20 years Duncan Fisher, PhD, has been showing people how to get their writing chores done and out the door fast, no matter what kind of training they have (or don't have). He's got an easy system that guarantees your success! Duncan's motto? "Start writing now... even if you can't write!" Visit him at http://www.instantwritingsuccess.com today!
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