I have friends who write effortlessly like superheroes. Crank 500 words in 2 seconds? No problem. Others sweat uncontrollably, hyperventilate, and tremble at the mere thought of writing.

If writing stirs a panic attack in you, try this: start with an email.

Instead of launching an imposing behemoth like Microsoft Word, call up your humble email program and begin your next writing piece as a simple email.

Most of my articles start this way, as lowly emails addressed to an imaginary persona. It’s my favorite psychological trick for fooling the brain into thinking a writing task is less critical than it is.

Here are the benefits:

1. It’s convenient
   We use email every day as part of the drudgery of work. Most of us have an email perpetually running in the background”a terrible habit. But since it’s always open, you have the opportunity to write at anytime. No waiting for Word to launch and crash later.

2. You feel less pressure
   None of us have problems writing emails. Longer written pieces, however, awaken our inner critic. Is that sentence structured correctly? Hey, are you putting those periods in the right place? You get so worried about perfection, you can’t even start. Creativity stops. Procrastination becomes tempting, and you go off to play Dance Dance Revolution or Sudoku instead. Email lowers the standards. It’s intentional informality reduces the fear of imperfection. This helps you generate more words, more quickly. Remember, quantity is quality.

3. You’re more conversational
   Emails are casual, like everyday conversations. It shouldn’t sound like an college paper. If you’re writing for a blog, starting in email ensures your articles have an easy and informal tone.

4. You’re more concise
   Even formal papers benefit from an email approach. Email forces you to be brief and understandable, because you have to keep it short. Earlier this year, MIT Press published a little academic paper I co-wrote in the journal, Design Issues. How did I start this paper? As a teeny tiny e-mail on my Sidekick.

5. You can get feedback quickly
   Feedback is imperative for improving the quality of any work. Using an email program to write makes exchanging feedback super easy. Just fill in the address field and hit Send. No attachments. No Mess.

Okay, you get the idea. When you’re stuck on a writing project, put your words in an email. If it doesn’t work, send me a message about why it didn’t. ;-)

Warmly,

Chanpory

Trouble writing? What are your favorite tricks for easing your writing woes? Please share in the comments

Even if you don’t blog, you know the agony and frustration of losing the words you want to write.

Here are my favorite tips for eliminating writer’s block:

1. Lower your standards

Blogs aren’t novels, so don’t start a post by worrying about being perfect, insightful, original, or even grammatically correct. Take Anne Lamont’s advice: begin with a “shitty first draft.” Let yourself write a big stinking pile of poo. Good writing, like good design, is a process of iteration and editing.

2. Start with a headline

Do you feel pressure to write a full-length piece? Don’t. Instead, brainstorm headlines for articles you would like to read yourself. It could be as crazy as “How to Get Great Hair Like Sanjaya” or as controversial as “Why Design Education Sucks Today.” Even if you don’t end up writing the article, you’ll create an arsenal of ideas to inspire you when you’re stuck. To get started, check out Brian Clark’s excellent series on writing magnetic headlines.

3. End with a deadline

Never start a post without a deadline. I really believe in Parkinson’s rule: work expands to fill the amount of time available. If you don’t have a deadline, you’ll never finish.

4. Eliminate distractions

Use clever writing tools such as Writeroom (Mac) and Dark Room (Windows) to eliminate all distractions on your computer. You’ll see nothing but words on a screen, not even an oppressive clock. Outside the computer, find a quiet room, silence your mobile phone, lock out the pets, and turn off your TV.

5. Write at dawn, not at dusk

Even if it’s just a hobby, don’t blog before bed and after a long day’s work. Take a cue from Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and 15-year old blogging phenom Glenn Wolsey. Both schedule a time to write in the wee mornings. It’s quieter, your mind is fresher, and you avoid making excuses like “I’ve had a long day, I’m just too tired to write.”

6. Take a break

Who says you have to blog non-stop or even every day? Hit the gym, go to the movies, take a vacation, and spend time with your loved ones. After all, doing real meaningful things is what inspired you to blog in the first place. If you don’t blog today, the world doesn’t end.

7. Automatically spawn ideas with HitTail

HitTail analyzes the words on your blog and makes suggestions for related topics you can write about. It’s free and a great source for getting relevant inspiration based on your past writing. If used wisely, it’ll even help boost your site’s traffic.

8. Get a little help from your friends

Blogging doesn’t have to be a solitary journey. Run headlines or ideas by your friends, and ask what they think. Chances are, they’ll point out new ideas and angles you’ve missed.

9. Capture ideas before you lose them

Ideas for articles come when you least expect them. It happens as you’re walking to get a donut, commuting to work, or even on the toilet. To stop your thoughts from vanishing, always carry an easy-to-use device to jot down ideas as you get them. You can go as high-tech as a T-Mobile Sidekick (my personal favorite) or as low-tech as a little Moleskine notebook.

10. Breathe

After recently taking my first Yoga class, I’ve turned into a true San Franciscan. My biggest realization? My habitual shallow breathing contributes to a lot of tension, blocking the flow of ideas and thoughts. I know its cliché, but take a moment to breathe deeply. It’s easier to unstuck yourself when both your mind and body are relaxed.

Still stuck?

Check out these additional resources:

• Overcome writer’s block with writing toys (Language is a Virus)

• Hack your way out of writer’s block (Merlin Mann)

• Strategies for Overcoming Writers’ Block (University of Illinois)

• Where To Find News And Topics To Blog About (Glenn Wolsey)

• 10 Killer Post Ideas (Performancing)

• The Imagination Prompt Generator (Creativity Portal)

Did I miss anything?

What do you do when you get stuck? Go ahead, share your tips in the comments.

Recently, Gonzales took ownership of the controversial firing of eight US federal prosecuters. Or did he?

Gonzales said:

I acknowledge that mistakes were made here. I accept that responsibility.

He didn’t say:

I made mistakes and accept responsibility.

The latter statement is more straightforward, succinct, and bold. Did Gonzales simply forget this classic principle from Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style?

The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive

I shall always remember my first visit to Boston.

This is much better than

My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me.

The latter sentence is less direct, less bold, and less concise.

No, he didn’t forget. Gonzales’s rhetorical sleight of hand echoes Reagan’s response to the Iran-Contra dust-up:

And certainly it was not wrong to try to secure freedom for our citizens held in barbaric captivity. But we did not achieve what we wished, and serious mistakes were made in trying to do so.

Both politicians purposely say “mistakes were made” to misdirect responsibility. They use passive voice to blur the connection between wrongdoing and wrongdoers.

Used intentionally or haphazardly, passive voice makes the written word whimper. It creates ambiguity, displaces responsibility, and distances the reader. Though politicians remain slavishly chained to it, you shouldn’t be.

When writing, don’t be Gonzales or The Gipper. Instead, use the active voice. Be direct, specific, and forceful.

Check out Brian Clark’s Copyblogger, a collection of non-sucky tips for blog writing. It’s quickly become my favorite writing blog. Brian’s advice is approachable, concise, and never pedantic.

Here are his recent Hemingway-inspired tips:

1. Use short sentences
2. Use short first paragraphs
3. Use vigorous English
4. Be positive, not negative
5. Never have only 4 rules

Read the full post here.

• How to Start a Wiki
  A must-read for anyone starting their own wiki. Besides being straightforward, it has an extensive list of links to other wiki resources.

• Wikimatrix
  A wiki selection tool on steroids. It has wizards, feature-filters, and detailed side-by-side-comparisons to help identify the right wiki engine for the job. The matrix overviews are quite comprehensive though somewhat overwhelming. Thankfully, you can hide items. Wikimatrix also has short descriptions for most wiki engines as well as screenshots, discussions, statistics, and related wikis. The main downside of Wikimatrix is its speed when comparing a lot of wiki engines. I also wish it had tutorials, editorial reviews, and ratings.

• [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparisonofwiki_software/ “Wikipedia)
  Provides a basic comparison chart of the most common wiki engines, technologies, features, licensing, and intended users. Being a wiki itself, it can be extended by you and other users. However, I found the current presentation overwhelming and wished for the ability to sort and filter. The Wikipedia Entry is more suitable as a reference guide than a wiki shopping tool.

• [Top Ten Wiki Engines](http://c2.com/cgi-bin/wiki?TopTenWikiEngines”Top Ten Wiki Engines)
  As the name suggests, this site gives an overview of the most popular wiki engines. While popular doesn’t always equal good or easy-to-use, this list gives an indication of which wiki engines will have a large support framework.

With these tools in hand, finding and setting up your wiki should be wikiwiki (quick) and easy.