You might think of this as cheating, but I’m stuck.
Why am I writing about how bloggers can deal with writer’s block?
Because as I sit here in my hotel room in Fort Hays, Kansas, getting ready to partner with my buddy, Mike Brown, and friends at Brainzooming – for what might be the the biggest group social media strategy session I’ve been a part of so far – I am utterly and completely stuck.
Here’s how I’m trying to fix it:
- Write a post about how you plan to get unstuck from writer’s block. It sounds silly, but it might help loosen the blockage. Plus, everyone has different solutions for helping them get unstuck.
- Visit you Google reader and see what other bloggers are writing about. Find a way to add something or go deeper on what they’ve written.
- Visit a store or restaurant and observe. Find someone or something that pops out to you, then write about why it stands out. I did this with an email I received from PromoWest productions last week.
- Go back through some of your recent posts. Read the comments and find a nugget of content to expand on. Give your reader(s) some props for helping you get unstuck thanks to their idea.
- Pick up your Flip or Kodak Zi8 and find someone to interview. Maybe it’s a family member or coworker. Maybe it’s the guy at the front desk of your hotel. Whoever it ends up being, write 2-3 questions, point, shoot, listen and expand on what they say.
- Write about a place you’ve recently visited. Why was it important? What was the local scene like? Why should your readers care?
- Write about something personal. I mean really personal. Tell us something about you we never would have guessed. (These type of posts are usually the scariest to write, so be ready to get out of your comfort zone.)
- Go to your mobile phone and if you use apps, pick one and write about what’s good and bad, and what you would do to improve it.
- Write a list of things that you think might help people complete a task or get better at something.
- Write about a customer experience that stood out. Good or bad, let your readers in on what they can expect when visiting a local business in your town.
What do you do to try and get unstuck when blogging?
One thing I do is look at presentations I've developed and delivered and see if there is one or two things I can pull out and reinforce in more detail. I did this a few days ago and it lead to me creating an infograph. As a result bloggers like you visited, commented and I made new connections. SO… Take a look at what you've already created, make it better, explain it a little more, or re-write it. I also like to read my RSS feeds and see what others are writing about. I always find something.
I hope the writers block leaves you soon.
Keep writing.
Comment by Dan_Harris — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:05:07 +0000 @ 4:05 am
Good ideas Dan. And a great graphic yesterday. It worked for me.
Comment by nateriggs — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 04:23:31 +0000 @ 4:23 am
Great post and, the picture is good for a laugh. Back in the day, when I had time to keep a blog, many of my posts were conceived as comments I had composed on another blog.
Which leads me to the question… how do you even have time to blog?
Comment by richardbasile — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:50:25 +0000 @ 3:50 pm
I wrote about this topic in my own blog some time back. Here's what I suggested:
I’ve had writer’s block the past few days. The first thing I did was analyze the problem. Bad move. Why? Because analyzing is another excuse for putting off what I don’t want to do anyway. It’s the holidays; I’m busy; I have to get ready for a party. We all know the drill. So here is what I did.
First, and this has worked for me before, stop staring at your computer screen, hands frozen over the keys waiting for an inspiring opening sentence. Instead, just start typing gibberish like this –
Aue.s iea opueei aoeuemflpo ejsoemaiu e0 plel;adedxe[eopes/eide
Just let your hands fly over the keys. Come on, loosen up! It’s the equivalent of shaking your hands dry when there isn’t a towel available.
Next, do not call a friend for help. Another time waster. Here are a few additional tricks to get you going, after you’ve loosened up.
Go to Google’s Wonder Wheel. What a great tool for article ideas. Here is how it works:
* Type in your key word(s) in the Google search box and hit enter
* At the top of the search page click on “Show Options”
* Scroll down and click on Wonder Wheel – which shows your key word at the center with spokes going to related words, which then lead to other words.
* Under Options you can also click on “Forums” to show forums with those words
What’s cool is that every time you click on a related word or phrase, news with the keyword appears alongside so that you learn what’s being written about the topic at that moment in time.
Next try Rack and Write. Never been there? This site is a real hoot. You enter some key words and the site comes back with hundreds of potential blog titles. As the site points out: “this is a brainstorming tool, so some of the sentences will sound wacky.” I entered the words CEO, Public Relations Director, and Press Release and here are a few titles I got back: “Realize Your Dream Press Release By Following These 4 Simple Steps,” and “The Worst Ideas for Press Release” and my favorite, “Fire the CEO!” About 99% of them are useless but they are great for sparking other ideas.
Link your article or blog to the news. It’s really quite amazing how you can align your brand with just about any news development. In my blogging course, our instructor Bea Fields asked us to write a blog about the death of Michael Jackson. For the life of me I thought, what would I write about? And it became apparent almost immediately: he was one of the greatest communicators of all time through his music, his words and his dancing. Easy.
Set a time limit. Give yourself a half hour to research and write your piece. You may end up going back to do some editing or adding a few new facts, but the basic piece will be done.
Don’t be afraid to go off message once in a while. If your topic is narrowly defined – like gardening tips, or how to build your own furniture, try writing about something that is close to your heart, like the value of true friendship, or get mad about something stupid that happened to you at the supermarket. Just let go.
Build on other ideas you’ve written about. That’s what I’m essentially doing now. I’ve written about how to find story ideas before – I’m just expanding on that theme with a few new tips.
I’m a roll. I think I’m over the hump. My blog is finished! Would love to hear from you with your tips for overcoming writer’s block.
Now I can go to my party.
Comment by jeannettepaladino — Sun, 02 May 2010 00:23:55 +0000 @ 12:23 am
Good ideas and post, Jeannette. Were you aware that you can link back to your original post and send some of my traffic there? Please do.
Comment by nateriggs — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:25:13 +0000 @ 2:25 pm
It's easy when you love doing it. You make time. (and sleep is way overrated
Comment by nateriggs — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:26:03 +0000 @ 2:26 pm
I have had writers block in the past, but as I made blogging an everyday thing, it became pretty easy to write about anything. If you need an idea to write about, you can Google “popular blogging topics for 2010″ or something like that. You will probably find other blogs posting ideas for blog topics. Once you have a topic to write about, it is pretty much downhill from there.
Comment by Brandon Connell — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:37:38 +0000 @ 8:37 pm
Thanks for the comment Brandon. It's a good tip. I would add that when looking at blogging topics on Google, make sure to stay close to your own content niche/niches. And always make a practice of linking to the post that inspires yours. Just the nice human thing to do…
Comment by nateriggs — Mon, 03 May 2010 20:52:39 +0000 @ 8:52 pm
Great article. Gaining inspiration can be tough sometimes, especially when you run a blog with a niche focus as I do.
Love the first tip, both playful and true. Also, writing based on what you see other people writing about or drawing inspiration for your Google Reader or Tweet stream is a great tip too and something I do all the time!
Comment by jacobstoops — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:43:47 +0000 @ 8:43 pm