Zero Draft, a creative technique to get out of a mental block
A Zero Draft is focused free writing and is your first attempt to assemble thoughts related to your research topic or question. It is a more or less unstructured piece of writing that flows quickly from your own mind as you reflect upon your topic, your questions, and your reading.
This technique can help focus the first stages of a new project by establishing what you currently know and getting your initial ideas out of your brain and onto paper. Taking your central theme or topic:
- Write down everything you currently know about the subject.
- Write down what you need or want to know about the subject, but don’t currently know.
- Reflect on why the subject is important.
- Add anything else that takes your fancy — this is a chance to get whatever’s floating around in your head out into the world.
The Zero Draft method is all about getting everything you can think of relating to your topic down on paper, so don’t be concerned if it looks messy and unfocused. The goal is just to get past the initial block that often plagues creative professionals in the early stages of a new project.
Because it is the outpouring of your brain as it zeros in on your subject, it should be a substantial reflection of all that your brain can generate about that subject. Much, most, or all of what you write in this draft may be eventually trashed.
This is part of a discovery process. The more you write here, the better will be your chances of uncovering good stuff, real thought-treasure.
