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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/10553
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/10553
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

You identify two problems in your question.

One is "how can I effectively develop topics out of thin air without research, or spending hours before actually writing?" This is a "what to write about" question, which is not on-topic for Writers. (Plus, there's no such thing as "developing topics without research." You may have done the "research" by reading 40 issues of _Tiger Beat,_ but that's still research. If your problem is "how do I research a topic so I can organize my thoughts and write about it?" then ask that.)

The other is that you struggle to get words to paper. So the real issue here is why? Are you afraid of writing the "wrong" word? Are you afraid that you'll put it down and it won't look right or read well?

Conversely, if you were asked to sit down and chat with a friend about a random topic, do you have the same issues of coming up with spontaneous content?

If spontaneous content (why is Justin Bieber's hair that particular shade in that photo?) is not a problem for you when speaking, then you're "making the perfect the enemy of the good," and there are other questions here you could read to help you with that kind of writer's block.

If the problem is that you literally can't think of the word, any word, like "literally," then that may be a wiring problem beyond the scope of Stack Exchange.

You have to determine what's getting between your brain and your fingers first before we can suggest a solution.

Original score: 3