What’s up, nerds?
You ever find yourself writing and the words are just coming? You're in the zone and it's amazing? But then one word pops up that you just can't find and it brings your furious typing or writing to a crashing halt?
Yeah, me, too. And I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so when I get stuck on a word I can't quite place or the word I have written just doesn't fit. But I found a trick that works for me.
This is a super helpful writing technique that can keep you moving forward without getting stuck - using placeholder text! You can use [TK] as a placeholder for missing/wrong words and even research you still need to do.
TK is an old publishing term that means “to come.” It’s specifically chosen because those letters rarely appear together in English words, making it easy to search for later. When you hit a spot where you need:
The perfect word
A piece of research
An example or detail
instead of stopping your flow, just write [TK] and keep moving! For example:
“The [TK specific type] sword glinted in the moonlight as she [TK verb for sneaking] through the castle corridors.”
This keeps your momentum going while making it easy to find and fill in those gaps later. Try using TK placeholders in your writing this week and let me know how it affects your productivity!
I'll even go back through and color-code those areas after I've finished writing for that 1st round of revisions. My life is guided by color codes, so this extra step to go back and highlight works for me.
Funny Note: This is what happens when you try to post a Substack with TK everywhere:
Wishing you ink-stained fingers and carpal tunnel,
Katrina Schroeder
Book Coach & Founder of The Fiction Lab
Your TK idea is a great one! I'm going to give it a try.