I have a few go-to pieces of advice when business owners or other writers ask me for help. Standard networking event conversation:
What do you do?
I help writers sound the way they do in their heads
Oh! I write! When I can. But I’m stuck right now…halp?
From here, I have a few options–assess exactly what kind of writing they do, ask for an example to problem-solve, or give general advice. This last one is the hardest, since writing is fundamentally dependent on situational factors like audience and goals. But there’s one piece of advice that really does work in every situation: if you’re stuck, talk it out.
Instead of staring at your blank page/screen/phone/chalkboard, generate a first draft by using a speech-to-text app. You can open it and talk to yourself, or keep it open on the table while you share a pizza with a friend. When you’re done you’ll have a wall of text that you can start trimming and shaping into a recognizable shape–it’s a lot easier to prune than it is to grow from seed.
The trick, of course, is to treat this like you would any other first-attempt-in-need-of-more-attention. The conversation you have with a friend or out loud with yourself is not going to be the final text you want to share with readers. But you’re also going to be a lot more comfortable working through an idea in that kind of familiar setting than you are working through it in preparation to share. Start with what’s easy, and then get help if you’re still stuck; and you know where to find a ready ear if you don’t want to burden your friends–that’s what The Interviewer is for.
Something Polished 