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August 10, 2004
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.
Posted by Deborah at August 10, 2004 12:14 PM
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