Suffering from Writer's Block?

Are you sitting in from of a blank screen, willing it to fill up with words? Writer's block is something we all suffer from at times and I know just how frustrating it can be when you simply cannot think of a thing to write. Or worse still - you have all the ideas lined up in your mind, but you just can't get them to come out in the right order.

Does your current post look something like this?

So how do you proceed?

Well, there's 2 ways to go. If you have no idea at all what to write, you can:

• Look at similar websites in your niche and see what they are currently talking about.
• Visit forums related to your niche to see what the 'hot gossip' is.
• Go to Amazon and see if a product jumps out at you that you could write about.
• See if there's anything on the news related to your niche which you could talk about.

If you do have some ideas in your mind but they aren't finding their way onto the screen, I would suggest that you get either pen and paper, (there's something satisfying about writing in the 'real' sense,) or open a new Word Doc and just start by writing down individual words which are in your head.

Use a new line for each word and just get them down there. It doesn't matter at this stage if they don't make any cohesive sense. Think about what would happen if you were talking to a friend about your niche/products. How would you start the conversation?

Now expand those words into sentences - even if they are still incomplete, or not grammatically correct. Write down every random thought connected to the topic you want to talk about. Continue until you feel that you have squeezed out every last little word that's in your mind.

Now take a break. Go for a walk; talk to your partner; have a coffee; admire the view from the window or close your eyes and imagine you are in your favorite vacation destination. Give it a good half an hour and then come back to those random sentences.

Now group together the ones which would make sense as paragraphs if there were some adjoining words and phrases in there. Move things around if necessary so that you have a beginning, a middle and an end.

Think about creating some joining phrases and expanding those short sentences. (Tip - don't make the sentences or paragraphs too long - they read much better when they are shorter.)

Go and have a look for some images which would work within those paragraphs - this can also give you additional ideas when you see images related to, but slightly different from, what you are writing about. Add the images and have a read through.

Try reading out loud to see whether the post sounds right - could you add a question or give an answer to a problem? Have you reached the minimum number of words which would be acceptable for a post? Have you covered all the points you wanted to cover?

Do you feel better for at least getting something down, but still don't feel it's ready for publishing? Save it as a draft and have another break. Try to talk about completely different things with a member of your family, but keep a pen and paper handy in case inspiration strikes - this may be just another word or sentence which you can again expand on.

Go back to the post and when you're happy with it, hit that 'publish' button - for sure, it may not be one of your best, but you can always go back in at another stage and add to it. At least you have done what you set out to do. You now have a post, congratulations!

Ciao for now my lovelies. I hope it's helped you a little :)