How to start writing a talk when you are stuck

Gives you a fast way onto the page, a rough first pass of your story that the deep version later grows from.

The Source Talk Method asks for a long, honest deep version of your story. A blank page asking for that is where most people freeze and quietly give up. So the course starts smaller, with a first pass.

A first pass is your story told short, in about three hundred words, the way you would tell it to one person across a table. It covers four short beats, in order. You write it fast, in your speaking voice, and you leave clumsy sentences as they are. The aim is to get the story out. Making it good comes later.

This works because three hundred words is something you can talk onto a page in one sitting. Once a rough, true draft exists, the next step is expansion, which asks far less of you than a blank page does. The course describes the first pass as the seam and the deep version as the quarry behind it. When the first pass is done, you return to it and go deep.

Key ideas.

A first pass is your story told short, in about three hundred words, the way you would tell it to one person across a table.
Writing a first pass fast, in your speaking voice and with no editing, gets the story onto the page before you try to make it good.
Expanding a rough, true draft asks far less of a writer than facing a blank page that demands a long, honest document.
In the Source Talk Method, the first pass is the seam and the deep version is the quarry behind it.

Questions.

How do I start writing a talk from a blank page?

Start with a first pass. Write your story short, in about three hundred words, the way you would tell it to one person across a table. Write fast, in your own speaking voice, and leave clumsy sentences alone. The goal is a rough, true draft. Once it exists, you are expanding something real, which asks far less of you than a blank page.

How long should the first draft of a talk be?

In the Source Talk Method, the first draft is a first pass of about three hundred words. It comes before the deep version, which runs much longer. Three hundred words is enough to capture the story in a few beats and short enough to write in one sitting. It gives you a rough, true draft to expand once you are ready to go deep.

Lesson 2.1 of From Story to Stage, a free written course by Aaron C. Leaman, published by Brighter Future. The terms it uses are defined in the glossary.