Jumpstart Your Writing Process
Sometimes you have to take drastic measures to get yourself writing!
It’s early morning. Or perhaps it’s late at night. Heck maybe it’s even in the middle of the day. Whatever time it is in your part of the world, it’s your time to write. You’ve made a pot of coffee, cleared up your emails, tweeted about your latest article and now you are ready to write. So you sit in your chair, look at your computer, open up a blank text page and then … nothing.
So you readjust your chair, take a sip of coffee, tell the kids to turn the TV down, look at your monitor and again … nothing. Nothing’s coming. No great ideas. No words. Nothing. Now what?
Writers’ Block, or just a plain old lack of mental motivation, is one of the most frustrating conditions to overcome for an Expert Author. If not treated immediately, this “condition” can quickly degenerate into a general lack of motivation and focus that could torpedo your article production capability for the rest of the day – or longer – and that’s dangerous, especially when you make all or part of your living as a writer!
5 Ways to Jump Start Yourself into Writing
- Get up. Go take a walk – even if it’s just around the yard. Go inspect your flower beds. Take a shower. Sit on the porch for a few minutes. Anything to clear your mind and get you away from the “pressure” of typing something out.
- Do something else. Do you have another article or essay that needs editing? Work on that. Write something quick – even if it’s just a quick email. Sometimes just the act of writing will inspire more writing.
- Unplug. If you’re email is constantly binging, your Twitter account is constantly bonging, your friend is text messaging and your mother is calling … it’s no wonder you can’t write! Close your laptop, grab a notebook and a good pen, get your cup of coffee and go sit down somewhere comfy. You’ll be surprised how quickly an idea will come to you!
- Just write something. Even if it’s a little rant about the run-in that you had with your kid’s soccer coach. Write it down. Get the blood flowing. Sometimes, if you write what’s really on your mind, that catharsis will free up your mind to other things. You could even write something silly and non-sensical. Or write a string of words. Or something that rhymes!
- Don’t write. Give yourself permission to not write for an hour – or maybe even a day. Sometimes, you just need a break. Use your time instead to work on other marketing techniques – or even clean out a closet.
When faced with writers’ block, the key is to not get too discouraged. Beating yourself up over it will only perpetuate the problem. Don’t worry about being a perfectionist. Go ahead and just write a draft of something that’s on your mind. If it’s terrible, don’t worry about it – you can clean it up and edit it later. But at least you’ll have something down on paper (so to speak).
There are probably a thousand ways to overcome writers’ block and we each have our own little tricks. Leave a comment and share yours with other members who suffer from this “condition.”
well said, very well said.
June 24, 2010 at 9:32 AM[Reply]