Writers block?
Hello IFSQN Community!
I'm fairly new to the site, so far I love all of the great advice I have read.
I have been in the business for a few years, recently started with a new company and I am now a one person team!
My question is... when writing SOP's, Product specs etc. Do you get writers block (or that's what I'm calling it) You have all the info needed, but just not sure how to put it on paper in a logical easy to understand verbiage.
Am I the only person this happens too? if not how are you getting around this? there's times I get so frustrated with what I have, I have to walk away from it.
Sometimes I step away from the office & work in the warehouse, actually help with the work to see how it is or isn't being done & interact with the staff so not seen as just someone sitting at a desk writing "rules".
This advice might go a little far afield, but when I get writer's block, I go to a relatively quiet place with a lot of natural light. Everyone's different but it works for me.
More practically, what pool said, too. Participate in the work to understand the process because you're likely to miss something otherwise.
Yup, definitely. It seems to happen more often than not. Typically, I'll just step away and do something else and come back later. If I have to get it done then and there then I just plow through it and end up editing it a few times. The hardest part is starting from nothing. Once you at least get a little bit going it tends to flow more freely.
So perhaps, next time, just get it going with the simple stuff like "purpose" or "objective" or "materials/supplies needed", etc.
OMG!!! You are preaching to the choir!!! :rock: I run into that wall all the time!!! I know what I want to say and how I want to say it, but then as soon as I sit down to start typing it out, I am at a loss as to how to begin. I don't have a tried and true method that works every time, but what I found helps are several different things, one is step away from it and collect your thoughts, you know what you want to say,it is just how to draft the beginning. Give yourself a few minutes to think just about the beginning and how you want to introduce it, then jot it down, you can always go back and edit it (and you will almost guaranteed), once you get on a roll. Another method I sometimes use if I am comfortable with the real "meat" of the document is go ahead and begin drafting that and skipping the intro for the time being. Usually once you begin writing, then a good intro will lend itself to you and you can go back and plug it in. Another way is to just write out a simple purpose sentence to get you started, what is the ultimate goal of this document, why am I writing it and what do I intend to achieve with it. Most importantly is to relax, if it isn't coming to you, let yourself become distracted from it for a little bit, you will find that while you were working on other things you were still thinking about it and forming it in your mind. The worst thing you can do is try to force it because if the words aren't going to come, they aren't going to come and it will only be painful and annoying and you will end up trashing it all and beginning over again, (yeah, I'm talking from excruciating experience). Hope this helps, but know you are not alone, there are many of us out here that deal with the same thing. :helpplease:
When doing a new SOP i just put in my nine headings
Hazard
Scope
Acceptable Limit
Procedure
Health & Safety
Monitoring
Corrective Action
Records
Verification
I start with the first and so on, if i run in to a block i move on to the next heading. Then i go back and usually i can pick it up. If not leave it for a day.
Regards Chris
All the time! Sometimes it takes me days to write one procedure but then I can knock out a handful in a week. Unfortunately I don't have a fix for it, I just have to work around it :)