First published in The Hindu, 7 Oct 2025

Ironically, as I type these words on writer’s block, I hem and haw. Will I be able to write on this topic? Will it be interesting? Should I pick another theme? As my mind doesn’t generate any fresh ideas, I am tempted to stop. To take a break. Perhaps, start again when inspiration strikes. But the trick is to ignore these thoughts and hammer on. To keep churning out text, however bad or banal it is. In fact, most writers experience writer’s block on a daily basis. Even experienced writers can be stymied when they sit down to write.
When we read a piece of well-written text, we assume that the words just poured forth from the writer’s fingers. A polished piece of published prose does not reveal the effort that went into crafting it. In his book, Ordinary Magic, psychologist Gregory Walton writes that students at Stanford University have coined a name for this phenomenon. The “duck syndrome” refers to the appearance of everyone else “gliding smoothly across the
lake” when in fact every person is “paddling frantically under the surface.” Walton likens the act of producing a first draft to “swimming through some especially thick liquid.” To gain a sense of forward momentum is a herculean task as “every inch” is a struggle. Creating a first draft is one of the hardest and most frustrating steps of the writing process, which explains why many people give up in the initial stages itself.
Priyanka Carr, a student of Walton, called that the first draft a “vomit draft.” Though distasteful, the term allows you to literally “throw up” any ideas and tangential connections a topic evokes. In the early stages of writing, you may put down every idea that pops up in your head, without necessarily filtering or even bothering to assess their relevance or quality. You don’t need to be mindful of writing conventions even. It’s okay if words are misspelled or misused. Your ideas need not even be presented in coherent sentences.
Words, phrases, run-on sentences, anything is acceptable. Your only goal is to generate a predetermined quantity of words. Express yourself In an essay in The New Yorker, aptly titled Draft No. 4, author John McPhee avers that writer’s block is part of a “writer’s normal routine.” Those who continue to tap out
words, despite the misgivings in their heads, are the ones who end up as writers. If you don’t know what to write on, start off by writing a letter to your mother telling her about your predicament. Describe your frustrations and your inability to produce a first draft. Whether you rave, rant or ruminate, just put down your thoughts.
“First drafts are slow and develop clumsily,” writes McPhee. However, take heart in knowing that the subsequent stages of writing are easier as you pick apart, tear down, add, reimagine and rewrite your narrative. For McPhee, the first draft typically takes four time longer than later ones.

Short articles, like this one, require fewer drafts than longer texts. But even with a piece like this, I might tinker with a word here, a comma there, till I end up submitting it. As McPhee says, “The way to do a piece of writing is three or four times over, never once.” I also find that taking a break after churning out a predetermined number of words helps. But don’t take one before you reach your word count. McPhee compares the first draft to a “sort of nucleus” that you can then reshape and refashion.
Additionally, the act of writing the first draft, however, bland or bad, kindles your neurons. After you put your deplorable draft aside, an idea related to your writing may pop into your head as you are exercising or doing the dishes. But as McPhee reminds us, without the “drafted version,” these thoughts won’t arise in your head. So, tap away.

The writer is visiting faculty at the School of Education, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, and the co-author of Bee-Witched.