Head Block

Head Block

Anyone Can Overcome Blog Writer's Block

For me, writers' block was a blank page on the screen of my mind. Nothing would come. No thought patterns appeared. The little voice in my head was silent. The tighter the deadline, the more frustrated I became. Oh, I wrote anyway but it was amateurish at best.

My mentor nailed the problem. It was fear!

Writers' block can be from deep-seated fear that you have absolutely nothing of value to say. And, it doesn't matter if you've done all your research and all you have to do is arrange sentences together into coherent paragraphs. Writers' block, based on fear of looking stupid, can strike anyone at any time.

Based in fear, it raises our doubts about our own self-worth and it's usually hidden from our consciousness. You don't realize the fear is there but you feel like an idiot who only went up to the 4th grade in school. If you dared publish your writing, people would surely see you for the illiterate idiot you really are!

Here is a list to use to unmask the writer's block demon in you!

1. Perfectionism.

The demon says you must produce a masterpiece of literature straight off in the first draft.

2. Editing instead of composing.

Midway through your first or second sentences the demon says - "No, that's stupid. Start over!" "Uh...that's no good either...uh..."

3. Self-consciousness.

The demon puts more and more pressure on you to get writing but tells you that you really are not a capable writer.

4. Can't get started?

The demon convinces you that the first sentence is the hardest and reminds you of how critically important the first sentence is. It must be brilliant! It must be unique! It must hook your reader from the start! Scary, huh?

5. Shattered concentration.

The demon will draw your attention away from your keyboard by planting random thoughts - "Did I pay the electric bill?", "I wish Jane was here right now," "What time is it?" and on it goes.

6. Procrastination.

The demon tells you it's O.K. to walk away for a while, to avoid the hassle right now, writing can be put off while you clear your head. Procrastination is writers' block out in the open for you to see. When procrastination takes over, you have lost the battle.

Now that I have your stomach churning, here is what my mentor taught me.

1. Be prepared.

Once your research is done, spend a few minutes picturing in your mind's eye the story you are about to put on paper. Play it like a movie with sound and action. Imagine you are a movie critic and you are about to write a column about the movie.

I would have news stories mostly written in my mind before I reached the TV station using this very technique. I knew how I would begin, what the middle would be about, and how it would end. This, by the way, included cover video and sound-on interviews.

2. Forget perfectionism.

Start writing regardless of what you think about your skill as a writer. Just write, one sentence after another after another. Let it flow. Some of it will be garbage, sure, but so what? The final product is what counts.

Look at it this way. Most of your readers/viewers are no smarter than you. Most have an average education. Most wouldn't know a perfect story from an imperfect one. Most cannot recognize improper grammar. This alone should free you to write but let's continue.

3. Compose instead of editing.

Composing is a magical process. It surpasses the conscious mind and kicks on your creative flow because it doesn't judge quality. It only cares about quantity at this point. It totally ignores the writer's block demon! It doesn't care what anyone thinks. It just wants to write!

4. Forget the first sentence.

In fact, expect to throw away the first couple of sentences. That way the demon gets what it wants and you get what you want - to write! You can sweat over that all-important headline and opening paragraph when you've finished your piece.

5. Concentration.

Distraction is another sign that the writer's block demon is rearing its ugly head. Concentration is the 357 magnum that blows it away. Pretend you're Dirty Harry and use concentration to blow that sucker away.

6. Stop procrastinating.

If you suffer with procrastination in many areas of your life, you need to begin your writing process by writing an outline, a road map to get you from the beginning to the middle to the end of the piece. Keep your research notes handy as a crutch. You can try writing with pad and pencil at first just to get just to break the mental block between your keyboard and the blank page of your mind. Writing in this way may help you get organized. Of course you can always just attack your keyboard to get the flow started. Type anything and everything that come into your head!

Finally, one of the keys I employed when I first began my battle to overcome writers' block was to keep a picture in my mind of my mentor teaching these shortcuts. For you, may I suggest you print this article and keep it next to your keyboard where you can refer to it often. Allow it to be your mentor. I guarantee, someday you will not need it because writers' block will be a rare occurrence.

About the Author

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gasket between cylinder head and engine block in bultaco?

I've been told there is no gasket in between the cylinder head and engine block in the bultaco project I'm working on (lobito) but
that just doesn't make sense to me. is this true?

Bul used a variety of cyl/head junction sealing schemes.

I cannot recall which years/models used what.

If your cylinder has the narrow top flange protruding above cylinder,,,
and the head has corresponding narrow recessed groove,,,

No Gasket,,, it's a metal-to-metal seal

You'll always see some oil sweat stains on head outside that recess ,,,but usually splotchy.
It's NOT a blow by mark,
It's where oil seepage creeps across surface then cooks

Both Joint Surfaces >>Top of Cyl should be clean,,and head groove also.
If not,lap it.

Pie pan shows good imagination I 'spose,,
but it's way too soft,,,most such items are 1100 series non-treated Al.
It cannot withstand the pressure in such small cross sections at combustion temps.

But regardless of its material strength,,,
on the metal-to-metal junctions the clamping psi is extremely HIGH.

If you put anything in that gap it's subject to extra-ordinary compressive loading when torqued cold.
Put it thru a Hi Pressure,Hi Temp cycle,,,it FURTHER compresses the "gasket".

Literally Crushes it,,,then what ya got next time,,upon cold restart?
Effectively a severely Under-torqued Head after having extruded the thin shim "gasket" which did not have enough surface area to bear the load.

Instant Leak,,,IF the head is not actually,literally flopping around.

Particularly in clamping arrangements such as Bul's...
where you have Dual Fastener Stretch Patterns.

Upon "relaxing" half the clamp,,,you get a "offset pair cloverleaf" pattern.

Load-wise,,that's obviously a ring of Tight>Loose>Tight>Loose,etc,,, Circa.

Fine recipe for Head Warping.

Bul's Other Recessed -but GASKETTED Heads have a much,much wider flange,,,
It's an exponential increase in load-bearing surface area.
Which eliminates the gasket extrusion under operating load.

Silly Example,,,in case anyone is interested in the principle.

Imagine an Ice Pick and a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood.
Go out in your yard and stand on the Ice Pick.
Then stand on the Plywood.

Same Dirt Surface.
You are same weight.
Yet ONE Item presses so hard against the surface it actually pierces it.
Other Item dont even really flatten the grass,,,It Darn Sure DONT penetrate the surface by several inches.

PSI>>Load Distribution.

Gasketed Head is Low Psi clamping junction,,,which avoids CRUSHING the gasket.

Non-Gasketed junction is High PSI.
A High Load applied across a small surface area.
When engine Heats and Cyl/Head Expand it gets even TIGHTER.
And it has nothing in that junction to squeeze against except each other.
Certainly No Gasket to over-compress and squeeze out.

It forms pretty good consolidation of the 2 mating surfaces.

Just Like the Tiny Surface Area of the Ice-Pick Tip with your weight on it consolidates with the Ground's surface.
But the large area of the Plywood Sheet dont.

O-Ringed cyl Heads or Blocks are common in extreme pressure engines.

Same Principle of area/force,,,and the groove retains any extrusion.

*Clean it thoroughly,
*lap it if necessary,
*Assemble the HEAD JOINT DRY ..
(Its a Metal2Metal Seal,,
NOT Metal-to-Sticky,Gooey,Fragmented Particulates or Flimsy CRAP to Metal)
*LUBE the ENTIRE Fastener,,shank included,,besides just Threads and Load Surfaces with Anti-Seize.
*Torque it Properly,
*Re-Torque it after running ,,after Cooldown
*Retorque it Occasionally.....Not every run,,,but maybe,,3~4~5 Runs?
Torque-Check is better the Less seldom done.

The "maintenance torque" is the primary reason for using hi load capacity,durable LUBE on the fasteners.
So you can Re-Torque without DE-torquing first.
You won't have to fight breakout torque from fastener friction.

.....................
I appologize for not being able to tell you Specifically which exact setup you have.
Lost interest in Bikes years ago and erased most of it from memory,,threw out notes,records,data,etc on most stuff.
Especially Euro,,and especially the Spaniards & Italians among that.

But I Can tell you how to determine for yourself.
Real easy,,,
3 basic schemes.

1) Is the normal type full-flange gasket most folks are familiar with.
Those are VERY obvious.
The mating surfaces on both Head and Cylinder are FLAT.
There's No Recess cut into Head,,
No Protrusion of Cylinder Liner above cylinder casting.

Cyl & Head MATE with a typical-type gasket in the joint.

2) WIDE RING Recess.
Liner Protrudes Above Cylinder.
That gasket surface is "Wide",,like Finger Width.
Corresponding Recess cut into Head.
A Simple Circular Flat Ring Gasket is clamped in that Recess

The Cylinder and Head do not actually Mate.
The Head is raised and sits on Cylinder Liner

3)Narrow Joint Metal-2-Metal>NO Gasket
Same situation as #2,,but with a Narrow Sealing Surface.
Pencil-Width or Less...it appears distinctly narrow.

Something along those lines anyway,,as best as I recall.
Or,,I could be wrong.

Machine Head - Block (Live)