Writer’s block and lack of motivation to regularly blog strikes everyone at some stage or another. And sometimes more than once. I mean, it’s easy to see how it’s affected me over the years just by looking back through my blog. There are lots of months where there is little to no content on the blog, but then I get inspired again and away it goes! So what am I doing to try to maintain myself this time round?
Preplan What Topics I Want to Cover
For this round of writing, while I’m inspired I’m writing down all the possible topics I want to cover. I’m not forcing myself to say which topic is first, second or anything. I’m just getting as many ideas down as I can, so it takes the hassle out of not knowing what to write about. By not holding myself to a schedule of which topic is the one I must write about first, it allows me to pick whichever topic I feel most passionate about and write it when I feel like it.
Schedule a time to write
This both works for and against me. But the thing that I find impacts me the most is because I put my own work on the backburner, I always forget to blog when I have time up my sleeve. So by giving myself time to work on my business, especially to blog, I’m safeguarding the time. If you work on a lot of varied times (meetings, client appointments, etc.) then you need to schedule the time to work on your own business too, otherwise no new content will be produced.
Write to a good soundtrack
The first thing I do when I’m writing is pick a great soundtrack that keeps me motivated, it’s upbeat but not distracting. I rotate the music through and ensure that if I find myself getting too into the music, I stop that particular song. If I am finding myself constantly being distracted, then I move onto music with no words. There is a lot of upbeat classical musical or instrumentals that work just as well as other music.
Eliminate other distractions
When it’s your writing time, leave your phone elsewhere if you can (or on silent). Close out of your social media, your email. Allow yourself as much of a distraction free period as possible. There are a number of plugins available for WordPress which can assist in blocking all other web based distractions from grabbing your attention.
Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t write as much as you hoped
If you are planning on writing multiple blogs, don’t get mad at yourself if you only manage one blog in that period of time. Instead, make sure you schedule yourself in for more blog time later that week. Beating yourself up will work against you and make it harder to keep your blogging up in the long term.
Celebrate your wins
By celebrating your wins, it helps to keep yourself inspired and motivated. If you are really struggling with writing your blog, then celebrate when you get a paragraph down. If you manage to get a whole blog written, then that’s awesome. You manage to get your whole schedule of blog posts written, that’s amazing! Make them realistic but keep yourself going.
Learn about new ideas and strategies
Sometimes, you just need a chance to look at other ways of doing things. It’s not always about what you know, but what you learn. Your journey is as important as the facts you present.
Just write
The best way to overcome writer’s block is actually to write. The hardest part is convincing yourself to actually begin.
Consider your options
If all else fails, look at other options, such as getting a copywriter to assist you. There is nothing to stop you from doing so, especially if it’s someone who can capture your voice right. Sometimes, you just need the assistance to keep going and the copywriter might be able to do one, two or monthly writings for you.
