Writing is fun for the writer when the flow just pours – you think of a topic and simply run with it. You are confident that your audience or readers would love your piece so you throw everything into it. After reading it over and being impressed with yourself (your work), you feel It is ready for others to read it too. Next step is pushing the publish button and just as you had hoped, everyone loved it. You get likes, comments and even new follows. So you do it again – write some more.
There are those moments as I’ve described above and there are those moments when nothing seems to be flowing. You have a theme or topic and you are ready to go but you can’t go past the first paragraph. Sometimes you have the closing in mind and you lead with that, composing the topic as you progress with the body of the post. Oh, and there are the countless drafts with topics and no content or content and no topic or the ones we have finished but keep editing because we are unsure it’s good enough to be published!
Dealing with Writer’s Block.
As writers, we put in a lot to publish that daily, weekly, or monthly post but we often have writer’s block too. Not to be swayed by the dictionary definition but having writer’s block is no indication that your skills are non-existent. It’s simply an interlude to the bigger picture you are hoping to paint. Embrace it by pushing through it.
1. Writing.
Writing became an hobby for me at a very young age and I would often write only when I was inspired because I thought that was when my best came out. Then I realized that was not exactly true. Now, I am always writing something at all (and odd) times. Yes, at all times! I cannot count the number of times I have woken up at 2:00 am because that was when the inspiration came to me. Or stopping mid-sentence in my conversation with someone to write something in my notebook (I try not to be rude about it). I am always ready to write about every idea that comes to me at all times and it’s helped me overcome my writer’s block.
2. Leading With the End.
Most times, I have the end goal in mind. If I am writing about my experience with time management, it’s already clear that I intend to help my readers see how they can overcome it. Interesting, I always have the closing statement ready to go and I lead with that. Starting with the ending helps me fill up the “nonexistent” paragraphs.
3. Reading my Previous Posts
I like to believe that most writers go back and read their previous work. I have found that reading my old posts have become an inspiration and motivation to keep writing; it tends to help me see how my writing has improved over the years and appreciate my progress.
4. Reading Other Writer’s Posts
I am frequently looking for writers whose niches are both similar and different from mine. I have found that Inspiration comes when I read what others have written.
And that’s it! For now at least. I hope to discover new ways of learning and improving my writing.
I wrote this post to write about my experience with writing but most importantly to learn about how other writers are coping with writer’s block. If you are a writer, I would love to read and learn from you. Let’s connect!
It’s always great to read other bloggers’ posts, because they can be huge sources of inspiration. I for one am always impressed by humour and love bloggers who pull it off well.