ON BLOGGING ~ How to Kick Writer's Block to the Curb...

Photo courtesy letchugo @ deviantArt

As I was sitting here staring at a very uninspired post schedule, unmoved by my planned topic, my mind became frustratingly blank. Thankfully this doesn't happen to me all that often - writer's block. But when it does I use a journalistic approach to brainstorming - the Five W's (and One H). Have you heard of this term before? Have you ever applied it to brainstorming?

The Five W's (and One H) stand for:

WHO

WHAT

WHY

WHERE

WHEN

HOW

Reporters and law enforcers use the technique to gather information to discern factual information. I use them to cure writer's block. Here's how.

Take a piece of paper, or open a fresh word processing document on your computer, and make six colums - one for each of the above words. Then look around you, flip through a magazine, write down the topic of whatever you are listening to or watching, or pick a random color. Use anything. Since I am sitting here staring at my fingers on the keyboard, I'll use FINGERS as my starting point and write that above all my columns. Now I need to ask my fact finding questions and write down the answers in each column.

WHO...(needs them)

Pianists, guitarists, violinists - all need long fingers to make their job easier

People who type - isn't that everyone now? Stenographers for work, teenagers for texting - couldn't survive without the use of their fingers

Mountaineers - all those climbers who lose digits to frostbite and keep coming back for more

Surgeons need them to repair all those broken bones

WHAT...(do we do to them)

Rings decorate them

Manicures make them pretty/clean/healthy - no nail biting

Slamming them in a car door bruises them

Cracking knuckles

WHY...(do we need them)

They scratch itches

They create music

They pick noses

They express our emotions - flipping the bird, typing, sketching with pencils/painting

They provide the sense of touch

WHERE...(are the bargains)

Best deals for salon treatments

WHEN...(do you care for them)

When do people get manicures?

When do they need to be washed longer than normal

HOW...(do you care for them)

How do you give yourself a french manicure

How do you treat a hangnail

How do you keep them clean eating ribs

How do you trim a baby's nails

How do you treat a scratch from pet's nails

So as you can see from the above organization of my stream of consciousness, I've come up with some overall themes within each category. One topic that seems to have appeared in multiple spots is manicures. Something I'm familiar with and that many Bumbles visitors could relate to. Who pays for them and who goes the DIY route, which brands of nail polish look best or last longest, which special spa perks are worth the trip, how often people get them done, if they help curb nail biting, if guys ever notice the difference, how many men actually have ever had one, do gardeners ever bother, are musicians jealous they can't wear long nails, etc. etc. etc.

This little exercise took me about 15 minutes. I've now got all those topics within just the Manicure theme available to me. Not to mention ones that some of the above thoughts remind me of. Like how careful I was scrubbing my hands raw like my friend's little boy showed me how to do before we could go in and visit his new preemie twin brother and sister. Or how the calloused fingers on my left hand were a badge of honor when I played the violin. There's that terrific book I read about Mt. Everest climbers that turned me into an Adventure memoir/bio fanatic. Or how I still can't appreciate the difference between modern art and finger painting, but am fascinated by Jackson Pollock.

Give the journalistic technique of brainstorming a try the next time you are stumped for a post. You might be surprised the places your mind leads you.