But even if you are self-publishing, you owe it to yourself as well as your readers to develop a theme. Not only will a theme tell what your book is about, it also serves to hold your book together. Every other element — your chapters, for example — should support your theme. It is what keeps you from rambling all over place, and if you should stray, it is what can bring you back — if you keep it in front of you.

That’s literally, as well as figuratively. I wouldn’t begin to write or give a talk without having a developed theme. Have you ever been to a banquet or meeting where speaker went on and on with a speech that was all over place, talking about everything under sun, except topic audience was waiting to hear about? Most likely it wasn’t because speaker didn’t have a topic, but rather it was because speaker didn’t have or didn’t take time to develop a theme. If you want your story to be just as disjointed —then don’t develop a theme for it.

I don't remember much about article except it seemed to be about eating chocolate, taking walks and not doing much writing (it was supposed to be tongue in cheek). I don't think it turned out as successful as I had hoped.

Anyway, my point is this -- while I still eat lots of chocolate and take lots of walks, I've also been forced to wrestle with that particular nightmare many a time. And in those wrestling matches, I've learned a few moves that might help you in your own struggles.

First, I've come to view writer's block as a friend more than an enemy. Okay, maybe friend is too strong. An ally. (Okay, maybe he's a really mean ally, but an ally all same.)

Writer's block isn't about writing. Writer's block isn't telling you you can't write or you'll never write again or you'll never have another idea again. Writer's block is telling you something else is wrong, and you need to deal with that something before you can get down to business of writing.

Now, when I say writer's block, what I'm talking about is inability to write. You have no idea where to start, no idea where project is going, or maybe you have no ideas at all. That's true writer's block, not to be confused with writer's procrastination. Writer's procrastination is when you know what you want to be writing (or should be writing) yet you've somehow lost ability to sit in a chair and type. Oh, but you can still check e-mail. And surf Web. And lots of other tasks that have nothing to do with writing project you should be doing. But try and start that project -- you'll just fall right off that chair.

I've had more than my share of encounters with that particular fellow as well, and I'm planning to share tips on beating writer's procrastination in future issues. (Trust me, you need to beat writer's procrastination. He is enemy and he's evil.)