Dealing With Writers Block
Over the past few weeks I have read several posts about writers block.
There has been advice about how to overcome writers block.
It has been said there is no such thing as writers block, but I firmly disagree.
How could you be so bold as to disagree with others who know better, you may be asking.
Well, I believe I am qualified to make that statement not because I hold a certificate of excellence on the subject of whether or not writers block exists, but because I have been suffering severely from writers block for the past few weeks, or longer.
I certainly take myself to task and question why is it when there are millions of subjects to be written about that I have been finding it difficult to put pen to paper, so to speak.
Well that is part of the problem. There are just so many subjects.
For example, people are looking for information 24/7. All around the globe people are searching for solutions to their problems such as:
- whats the best product for polishing a car
- whats the best vacuum cleaner for animal hair
- how can I get tomatoes to grow in a shaded area
- how to make strawberry jam
- how to make money online
- how to stop a dog from chewing the furniture
- how to become an author
- how to lose weight quickly
- where to find the best....................
........and so it goes on, and on, and on.
Everyone has some need to improve their lifestyle or at least to make tomorrow a better day than today.
I believe that the cause of my writers block is that I am totally over thinking things. I mean to say, I do not have a Masters degree on any of these subjects so why would anyone want to read what I say.
Those have been my thoughts and they have caused a vast loss of time. So what if I don’t have Masters degree, its life experience that counts and having the confidence to share the valuable pieces that may help others who are looking for answers.
To anyone believing that they cannot write content, the only suggestion I can offer is to follow the teachings of some of our great WA members who advise us to start writing. Not only is this method recommended by Kyle in a WA training course, there are several members who have written great blogs advising to just start writing.
When I logged onto WA early this morning the first thing I read was Mudre’s blog titled Heres Why You Should Write Today. Without procrastination I started writing.
This is not the most fantastic piece of content but it is a start and I recommend to do likewise if you are struggling with writers block.
Thanks for reading.
Have a fantastic day.
Recent Comments
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Nicely done. Thanks for posting. I'm an "overthinker" too. When I "think" that something I've written is actually good, I read an article somewhere that focuses on all the things I've done wrong and reasons why it won't bring reader interest. So I scrap it and start over.
Then nothing gets written.
But I want to be "myself" when writing, with sprinkles of intelligent marketing ideas like catchy headlines etc.
The best part is now I've met MudreM. Lots of great info !
Thanks so much for your comment. I do appreciate it and my apologies for the late reply. I have been away from my computer for the past four days and am now catching up.
I understand exactly what you say and the description of how you want to write is what I want too.
We are fortunate to have Mudre's support and I will certainly continue to follow his training and advice, just as you will be doing.
I look forward to reading your posts in the near future. All the best :)
Thank you for the mention Valerie!
As you can see, you did it! You may not like some parts in it, but it doesn't matter. You wrote a post that actually makes sense and you shared with us. You may have a problem with "totally over thinking things" as you put it. Many people do. Perhaps my training about escaping the perfectionist trap could help a bit How you can overcome the perfectionist trap Cheers.
Thank you so much Mudre for your comment. I'm sorry my reply is delayed but I know you will understand because I mentioned that I would be away for a few days.
I have read your training from the link you left and it is amazing. I relate so much to what you say. I am a perfectionist and, being that, causes me to get slower results because I re-read content I write too often. All content, including the comments I leave!
I will work on improving my ways :)
Hi Valerie. I hope you had some quality time with your loved ones.
I used to do the same. Reading, re-reading, re-reading again... It has no end. Instead, now I try to focus on getting posts published and worry about tweaking later. This approach is much better because you improve your article AFTER publishing, rather than worrying about making it perfect BEFORE your publish.
Hi Mudre, Thank you for your comment and, once again, I apologize for taking so long to reply.
The three days away catching up with family was special and memorable, thank you.
You mentioned about tweaking posts after they are published. I understand doing that on a website but, I imagine it doesn't apply to posts published on WA because they usually are read within a day or two and not often after that, unless they are training posts.
Posting on WA has been the most challenging for me. Posting on my websites hasn't been too difficult. Now that I am working on overcoming the perfectionist trap as described in your training I expect to be more confident with WA posting. Thanks Mudre for your help.
You can apply this approach on WA too. The ultimate goal is to overcome the perfectionist trap by delivering products - in our case articles - to your target group. Once you hit 'publish' button, your post becomes visible. Read through it and figure out a few points you would want to change. Do that as quick as possible and then leave it for good. If you fear the negative feedback from the WA community, simply add something like "This isn't the perfect post, but...". People will understand.
Once you overcome this mental roadblock, focus on writing another article. Do the same with it and carry on doing it. You'll figure out there's no way you can write a parfect piece (I did it on purpose, it's pErfect, of course) and be productive at the same time.
Have a good day!
Thanks so much for making me laugh. And thanks more-so for your advice. I really can't express Mudre how much I appreciate it!
Thanks very much Jude for your advice. It is extremely helpful as well as encouraging that you take time to to respond my blogs. Have a great day :)
The best thing I can suggest is to carry on doing what you're doing here and that to talk to your reader as if you were chatting to a friend :)
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I've never really thought much about whether writer's block exists or not. However, I will say I do have trouble writing at times. For me, my troubles come down to a couple of factors. 1) Not knowing what to write... lack of ideas. When I say a lack of ideas, I don't mean doing a keyword tool search and coming up with a topic. It's more about determining what to write about a particular topic. 2) Lack of interest in the subjects I find. This is more of a motivation thing, I think. It's like chores... just do it.
Actually... when I look at those two factors, it really all boils down to motivation. Like you said, Valerie, there is plenty to write about. If I find a topic, I could easily do a search to come up with some ideas to write about. In the end, I really just don't want to do it... and that's a motivation thing.
When it comes to motivation. We're in control. We can sit around and let opportunity pass us by. Or we can dredge up some motivation and get it done.
Thank you for leaving a comment. I very appreciate it and apologize for the late response on my behalf.
It seems that you and I are very similar with thinking too much about writing content. I agree that a lot of it comes down to motivation and, as you say, we are in control so it is up to us to get on with it as without taking action there can be no results!
I look forward to reading your future posts. Best wishes :)