Copyblogger is the blog for anyone who’s trying to sell stuff through a blog (which is what I do in my real job, of course). Today they’re on 10 tips to get past Blogger’s Block, and as usual there’s much good advice. My favourites below:
- Understand the stages of writing process. Any piece of writing moves through distinct, though not always separate, phases. I have seen so many writers who start to edit or judge their writing (stage 7) when they are only in the first draft (stage 4), or even the preparation (stage 2), point in the process — and thereby strangle their work before giving it full form. Delay the actual writing for as long as you can, until you can’t wait to get at it. At a minimum, never sit down at the computer until you have your beginning, your ending and your research notes in place.
- Change your timeframe. A blogger feels like the deadline is always now but this is a false pressure. It’s far more important to write something worthwhile than to post today just for the sake of it. Always give yourself more time than you think you’ll need.
- Read, read, read. I am always stunned by writing students who say they don’t read. Whatever kind of writing you aspire to do, however long you’ve been writing, however good you think you are, always search out and carefully read other writers that are good at what you aim to do.
On the subject of that second point (changing your timeframe), most of the posts I consider my best I actually dated for the morning after I’ve wrote them. This let me wake up in the morning and have half an hour to edit them just before they get posted. Invariably, this improves the post, and it also has the advantage of going out in the morning rather than in the evening when everyone else is posting stuff.
I don’t believe in the 24-hour news cycle, and I don’t believe blogging is best as an instant-publish, no need to spellcheck, “Breaking News: Some Breaking News Is Coming” medium (in fact, I think those kinds of posts from Iain Dale and Coffee House, amongst others, are quite pathetic). I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m not alone using this tactic.
Anyway, good luck getting over your Blogger’s Block…
