Web Marketing Strategy Update

Yes, this is yet another article about the writer’s block and how to fight it. But I’m only doing it because the problem is still valid, and it’s still something that forces hundreds of bloggers and writers to sit in front of a blank screen for hours without writing a single paragraph that would make any sense.

Can you relate to this? Even if you’re not affected by writer’s block every day, I’m sure there are times when nothing seems to be working and you couldn’t produce a decent piece of writing even if your life depended on it.

To be honest, I consider myself pretty efficient when it comes to dealing with writer’s block. Nothing special about me, though. I just take conscious action whenever faced with this kind of a problem. The particular techniques I’m about to share here come from my own experience. However, feel to disagree and present your own approach if you think mine’s wrong.

One fact about writer’s block to start with:

It Isn’t As Serious As It Seems

Writer’s block is getting too much negative publicity these days. Personally, I don’t even consider it being such a big problem.

For instance, you don’t see plumbers running around complaining about plumber’s block, do you? So what makes you any different?

The sooner you understand that writer’s block is a fake problem, the sooner you’ll be able to get rid of it.

In essence, it’s only your brain playing tricks on you… I mean, you have the knowledge, you have the experience, you know English, you’ve done writing previously, you have a computer, so basically you have everything you need in order to be able to write.

Any sort of block is just a trick, and most of the time, it’s not even the core of the problem… The core can be found elsewhere.

Resolve Other Issues In Your Life

Writing a blog post or an article is a purely intellectual activity. This means that you need to be in a peaceful state of mind if you want to produce any acceptable results.

If there’s something bothering you, it will inevitably have an impact on your writing.

From my experience, the easiest method of finding out if that’s the problem is to notice what you’re thinking about when you’re being hit with writer’s block. Are you thinking about the article you can’t seem to write, or about something entirely different?

If it’s the latter then you should probably handle that thing first, get some closure and then come back to what you’ve been trying to write. Or at least some temporary closure if the issues are more complex.

Notice How The Writer’s Block Starts For You

Everyone has a different situation, and the circumstances in which we get hit with writer’s block differ a lot.

For me, the most common scenario was to get distracted with something mid-sentence. Then once I got back, I couldn’t get in the groove of writing again. So I usually decided to take a 10 minute break. But the break didn’t help, and I was struggling to get going again anyway.

What I decided to do, then, was to keep writing no matter what. If the phone rung, I didn’t answer. If I had an idea to check something quickly on Facebook, I didn’t do it. If I got a message on Skype, I didn’t check it. And so on.

As it turned out, blocking distractions was the method for me. If I’m writing distraction-free, I can produce a lot better results.

I encourage you to look for your personal kryptonite too. Try to notice what the first thing that happens before you get blocked is. This is usually your writer’s block trigger.

If you erase this trigger, most of your writer’s block problems will be gone.

What’s Your Usual Approach When You’re Blocked?

Once it happens, what do you usually do? And does it work?

For instance, my usual approach was to take a break, but like I said it didn’t help, and for some reason I wasn’t able to notice this. So I kept taking those breaks just because it was the intuitive thing to do.

Maybe you’re making a similar mistake. Picture this, if you get hit by writer’s block a lot, and your methods of fighting it don’t work, then why are you still doing the same thing and expecting that it will suddenly bring a different result?

This is about observation. Observation of your behavior and creating new habits that are different from the old ones.

… If taking a break doesn’t work then don’t do it and keep working.

… If writing the introduction first doesn’t work, start writing from the middle and craft the introduction at the end.

… If working late night doesn’t work, do it in the morning.

There are many possibilities, so you have to mind your actions on many levels, not just what happens on the screen of your computer.

How Are The Non-Block Days Different?

Are you in a different mood throughout the day? Do those days start differently? Maybe you’re in a different environment (in a café or something)? Or maybe you write about completely different topics?

There can be many factors, but the point here is to notice them individually and keep them in mind.

Once you have such knowledge, you can start applying it on a daily basis. If you manage to make your every day to resemble the non-block days then very soon your writer’s block will be a thing of the past.

Individual Solution

As I said before, we are all different and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to writer’s block. It’s all about observation and adapting to the situation.

However, the starting point is always the same – understanding that the problem is not that serious in itself, and then deciding to change your habits because the old ones are clearly not protecting you from getting hit by writer’s block.

Feel free to use this guide more like a road sign than like a direct step-by-step instruction. Also, I encourage you to come up with your own tricks and shortcuts to overcoming writer’s block. Or maybe you have some of those already?

Karol K. (@carlosinho) is a blogger and writer. He’s passionate about turning blogging into a business, and if you’re interested in finding out how to get paid to write articles online (as a freelancer), feel free to visit him at YoungPrePro.

Related articles

• Writer’s Block
• How To Beat Writer’s Block
• Long Story: The Writing Process
• What Does a Blogger Do When She Has Writer’s Block?

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