Lots of great tips in this thread from @BettySLai. My own technique is to use the dictation function on my iPhone. I dictate while I’m walking my dog. Just talk and talk. It gives the writing a conversational sound. Most of it is garbage, but occasionally something good comes out
https://twitter.com/BettySLai/status/1423637484408279046
Like many of the commenters in the thread, my own biggest weakness is a tendency to censor myself, and to keep editing the same sentence over and over. But when I dictate, the sentences flow. I pick one small topic and talk to myself about it. It generates a lot of raw material.
Editing that raw material is easy. It’s what I love to do. It’s producing the first draft that kills me.
Specifically, my technique is to open up the notes app on my iPhone. Hit the little microphone button, and begin talking while I walk my dog Murray. I don’t worry that the whole thing is incoherent. I just let the words flow and edit them later.
But it does help to have a small topic to talk about. That keeps the self-conversation from wandering too far afield. Sometimes, however, I will surprise myself by thinking of something else, only tangentially related. That’s fine! This method helps me find what I want to say.
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