Writing Roadblocks

We’ve all been there – staring at that blank page and nothing, absolutely nothing is coming to you. You’ve hit a writing roadblock. Maybe it’s not having “the” great idea or feeling like you don’t have anything new to say or wanting perfection out of the gate. Whatever the reason when you hit a wall you might panic or become frustrated and both suck up your time . . . and the cycle continues.

We’re often our own worst enemies and often what we are thinking isn’t accurate or even true. Knowing this is the first step to moving past roadblocks or avoiding them in the first place. I suggest considering the following tips.

1. Timing Is Everything – Give yourself time to write. Don’t wait until a deadline is looming to start your first draft. I know, some of you are saying “I need a little pressure.” I hear you, I said it myself. Honestly, if you give yourself more time you’ll have a better result instead of making a deadline with less than your best. Work back from your deadline to give yourself the gift of time to complete the task.
2. Schedule Your Time – Make space in your schedule to write every day. Think of it as stretching your writing muscle. You don’t have to complete content every day. Maybe you work on a list of topics with a few points you want to make. Or writing an outline for your next piece and then the next day flesh out the first section followed by the next each day after. Soon you’ll have completed it all and you’ll still have time for edits or others to review.
3. Turn Off Your Editor Brain – If you are anything like me you are constantly editing as you go and fussing over every little thing. That’s not very productive in the long run. Instead, simply write without concern for spelling or grammar or even readability. The first step is to get those thoughts out onto the page, period. Then go back and read it to move sentences or paragraphs to improve the flow of reading. Continue to edit with spelling and grammar. Stop editing before you have your thoughts down.
4. Edit The Right Way – Editing your work can also be a time eating process and for some extremely frustrating. Using an editing tool such as Grammarly can save time and give you greater confidence in your finished product. This tool will catch spelling errors and grammatical issues. You always have the option to accept the suggested fixes or ignore them – yes, there might be a reason to ignore a grammatical or spelling edit. You’ll still have to read through your piece for readability. Often we know what we mean so we don’t catch little things that might trip your reader up. Having another set of eyes on your work is always a good idea. Make sure this person will give you real feedback – meaning they won’t just say “sounds good” because they don’t want to hurt your feelings. They need to be honest with you so you can improve your final copy.
5. Turn It Loose – For those of you who edit, re-edit, and edit again – you just have to stop yourself. You’ve done your best to get it right and it’s time to turn it loose. Avoid dwelling on how it will be received and move onto your next project. Holding your writing back until it reaches perfection is futile.

If you are still struggling with creating content for your blog or website or your newsletter it’s OK to seek out others to help you with these projects. Content creation is a huge piece of any business and having someone who is concentrating on this for you makes sense. Contact me if you’d like to discuss content creation.