Are you a writer who has difficulty in coming up with words?

Do you find yourself browsing the internet for the RIGHT words, but you end up reading an irrelevant blog or watching a video which promises to give you shortcuts and make your writing process less frustrating?

Well, we all have been there and done that, so I urge you not to treat yourself harshly instead be compassionate to yourself. Now, let’s dive deeper into the problem. How do I think of words that describe the scene in my head? or the setting? or the feelings of a character, etc.

First, you need to work on your Verbal fluency. But what is Verbal fluency?

Verbal fluency is a cognitive function that facilitates information retrieval from memory. Successful retrieval requires executive control over cognitive processes such as selective attention, selective inhibition, mental set shifting, internal response generation, and self-monitoring.

Let’s break it down:

1. Information retrieval from memory: You must have something in your memory to begin with so why not read more books, articles, blogs that are similar to that scene in your head. It’s always wonderful if you find a story that is similar to what you want to write. I know it’s hard to find the right resource to study, so I read a novel or a short story of the genre I want to write. It helps tremendously.

An exercise you can do: Keep a diary or a notebook, call it a ‘Vocabulary Book’, when you read a novel and encounter a new word, jot it down in your Book, make sure you define it properly and assign it a tag. Tags can be ‘Noun’, ‘Verb’, ‘Adjective’. Then, write two sentences using that word in your vocabulary book.

2. Selective attention is the process of focusing on a particular object in the environment for a certain period of time.

Selective inhibition refers to the suppression of specific alternative responses that are considered to be strong competitors to a target response.

The exercise you can try to build those information retrieval muscles:

1. Selective attention — Select a topic, set a timer for one minute and write down words that are related to your topic. For example, If the topic you select is Forest, then words that are related are Trees, Lions, Wood, Mango, etc
2. Selective Inhibition- Select a topic, set a timer for one minute and write down words that are not related to your topic. For Example, If the topic you selected is Forest, then words like Wind, watch, batman, etc can be written down.

Now, the purpose of these exercises is to build your information retrieving neurons so keep practising and remember to do better than yesterday i.e, up your word count every day.

3. Another Exercise to help you with words to write is not actually an exercise, in fact, it is Research. Yes, you read it right! Believe me, the time you spend researching about a location or a vocation or anything will help you tremendously when you write. Words will flow from your head onto the paper through your hands. So, Don’t take Research lightly, do it for an hour before you sit down to write.

Always remember the more you write, the better writer you will become. Be it Journaling, writing prompts or just writing one page per day will significantly improve your verbal fluency and writing.

Author’s Note: Constructive Criticisms of the above article are appreciated. Constructive Criticism is where you criticize then give tips, suggestions, advice to improve.