A Guide to Overcoming Writer’s Block while Blogging
I’ve always associated writer’s block to what a baseball player must feel like when they are going through a slump. You’re doing everything the same as when you’re playing well or idea’s are streaming out of you faster than you can type them, but for some reason right now it just isn’t there. You can take extra batting practice or read some other blogs for inspiration, but again, nothing. It is one of the most frustrating feelings in the world. So how do we overcome writer’s block when blogging?
- Don’t force it
There are people who will tell you that you need to set aside a certain block of time every day and use that for writing. Turn off your phone, television or whatever else may distract you and just sit and write, but I don’t agree with this. You cannot say “Tomorrow from 9 am until 10:15 am I will be creative!!” It doesn’t work that way. It’s like the baseball player who says “tonight in my third at bat I will hit a homerun!” Homerun’s just come as part of the game. If they could be predicted then everyone would be hitting them all the time, you have to capture the moment. This means you need to always be prepared. I use my cell phone (yes I sound like Samuel Jackson in the Siri commercials) to record my ideas when they hit me. You could be sitting in traffic and look out the window and see something that sparks a creative thought inside you. Write it down or record it and then when you get home, blog about it. There have been times when I’ve woken up in the middle of the night with an idea I wanted to express on my blog and snuck out of the bedroom to the computer. Don’t force creativity, but always be ready to capture it when it hits.
- Take the initiative
While it’s true you can’t force creativity, you can help nudge it along. If you find yourself in a rut then go out and do something related to your blog. If your blog is about dogs then go take your dogs out into the yard or park and write down the silly things you see them doing. If your website is about dieting then pull up a chair to the refrigerator, open the door and look at all the food inside. Then write down the feelings you are having knowing you can’t eat any of it. Don’t just let writer’s block paralyze you. There are things you can do besides writing to help stir your creative juices.
- Don’t over complicate things
Sometimes we let the perfectionist inside us get the better of us. We want to make sure we have every fact lined up and every thought written out before we write our blog to the point where we never get to actual writing! I have talked to people who have spent days working on an outline for their 500 word blog post. Moving topics around for hours at a time. Just write! Be yourself and write in your own voice. Don’t try and sound like the utmost authority on every topic you write about. Do your research, organize your thoughts and then write. It doesn’t have to be perfect every time. The goal is to get your thoughts out in an organized manner so people can follow along. As writers many times we are our own worst critics. I cannot begin to tell you the number of valuable blog posts I have deleted, because I felt they “just weren’t good enough” when in reality they were good. Maybe they needed an extra sentence or two of clarification, but that was it. Step back and analyze your post from your reader’s perspective. Pretend you know nothing about the topic. Read your article. Did you learn something? If yes then you did your job. Post it and move on to your next great idea.
Category: Website Tips
