At Home in Self-Imposed isolation Conquering Writer's Block

I have written twenty books so I ought to be an authority on writing and conquering writers' block.

During Coronavirus you might be stuck at home. Or out and about but not sitting near enough to talk to others. You can write. Send texts, emails, write blogs, or complete a novel. What's stopping you?

When do you get writers' block?
In these situations:

1 Not saying thank you
Do you forget to say thank you? I rememer as a child, my mother would stage whisper, 'Say thank you!' When writing the can be as tongue-tied as you are when speaking.

2 Not replying promptly.
Replying instantly without thinking, being told off, then not writing ever again.

3 Postponement
Not preparing to start a project.

4 Procrastination
Avoidance Activities.
Reading emails. Reading the news. Tidying up.

5 Missing Writing Deadlines

Suggested Solutions:
1 Write the task on a A4 sheet of paper.
2 Write the deadline.
3 Write the reward. (write the penalty?)
4 Write the title
5 Write the end.
6 Write the summary.

DRAFT
Write the draft.

EDIT
Run it ghrough grammarly to check spelling and grammar.

Check the links or transitions before one section and the next.

Give to another person to check and edit. Tell them what to watch, not to merely praise, it's wonderful. Not merely riticsie, it's awful, but make specifid susggestions on spelling, grammar, sentence structure, originality, personal stories, potential libel..

Cut out irrelevant parts.
Cut it to length.

Send it out.
Keep a copy.

I hope this helps you.

The Long Novel
You could join an online organization which sets you a target of a minimum number of words a day and pairs you up with a writing buddy to encourage you.

Useful Websites
https://www.nanowrimo.org/

Angela Lansbury
Author of 20 books. In preparation, ebook on improve your English. Please share links to your favourite posts.

German words which are clear and confusing - in banks

Problem
1 How do you remember words? In a bank you may want to check your bank account, and ask how much money is in it.

Answer
Look for similarities. Similar letters or similar sounds.

German - English
Kreditkarten - Credit card
Finanzierung - credit, financing (looks like finance)
Frist (eine Frist) - deadline (a deadline)
Geld - money (originally it would have been gold with gold and silver coins)
Konto - account

English - German
account - Konto (German nouns begin with capital letters, unlike English words, where only p r o p e r names have capital letters) (P r o p e r was turned into paper by automatic spell correction.)
credit - Finanzierung
deadline - Frist (I think of rush to be first past the post before the race is over and you've missed your chance, like the hare and the tortoise)

Tips
Watch out for in the account which is auf - in this context meaning in, not from.

To test yourself, use Duolingo website which can be used on a laptop or as an ap on your mobile phone. You will have to go through the course from lesson one onwards in order. Unlike a paper textbook, or phrase book, you cannot skip around from one chapter to another.

Angela Lansbury, author and teacher of English and languages. Please share my posts.