Begin Wherever

When I first began writing proposals -- and for quite some time thereafter -- I was obsessed with starting at the very beginning of a section. No matter whether the section was the Background, Technical Approach, Management Plan or Past Performance, I felt that I could not get going unless the first sentence of the first paragraph was absolutely perfect. I spent hours and hours (and sometimes days) trying to produce that first perfect sentence. If the sentence wasn't just right, I would discard it and start over. You can imagine how much time and energy I wasted in these futile efforts.

And then, in one of the books I read on proposal writing, the author suggested starting a section in the middle or anywhere else if you couldn't think of what to say at the beginning. The implication was that I wasn't the only one who was struggling with this problem. But still, I couldn't imagine starting a section anywhere other than at the very beginning. I pretty much scoffed at the author's suggestion because I "knew" it just wasn't possible. But the idea somehow stayed in my mind.

At some point after that, I became desperate. I had a lot to write and couldn't get going because I couldn't generate an initial sentence. So I thought about starting somewhere else, knowing, of course, that it wouldn't work. But I did it anyway because I was faced with a deadline that was getting closer and closer and I hadn't produced anything. I began writing a paragraph that I knew would have to go somewhere in the section, although not at the beginning. I forced myself to continue on, even though my writing wasn't perfect. And soon I found that things were starting to come together, both in my mind and in what I was writing down. Truly, this was a revelation to me.

It is still my preference to begin at the beginning because of my tendency to write things down as a series of logical and progressive thoughts and steps. But I no longer obsess about it. If I can't get that perfect first sentence written, I quickly move on to writing something that I feel confortable with. Eventually it will lead me back to where I wanted to start in the first place.

So if you are faced with a similar problem, try starting somewhere else. Begin wherever. It may be difficult at first, but with practice you're bound to get better at it.