Whenever I need to write something - a grant, a paper, a report - and I'm stuck, I use writing "kindling" to get started. This is an example of writing "kindling". It is basically any quick thing I can dash off, where there are no consequences to the writing whatsoever. It lets me start to type words without really feeling the pressure of the thing I'm going to write.

Usually after I write a couple of paragraphs of kindling, I have enough of a roll going that I can switch over to the real thing I need to write and get it out quickly.

The one downside is that I have often used my blog Simply Statistics for writing kindling and sometimes the thing I write ends up causing some kind of controversy. That has happened more often as the audience for Simply Stats grew over time. This ends up distracting from the thing I need to write, even more than just being stuck. 

So here I am on a new blogging platform, with a smaller audience, writing some kindling so I can get started on something I have to write.