How To Get Writer’s Block In A Headlock…
One of the biggest challenges you’ll face marketing online is an annoying thing called “writer’s block” but until a few months ago… I honestly thought it didn’t really exist.
I mean, I’d type away at my desk. Take the occasional break. Grab a warm beverage and I was ready to roll. Never once was I plagued with this mythical beast. Never once did I struggle to write at all. Till that dark day…
You see, there was a looming deadline and I froze. Try as I might I couldn’t shake a word out of my laptop… and even worse… when I did manage to type a sentence or two it didn’t make any sense at all.
I might as well have been writing in alien hieroglyphs.
And the clock was ticking…
So I did what every logical person does.
I PANICKED!
Oh my… what was I gonna do? This has to be sent out tomorrow… and I haven’t even grabbed a bite to eat. Heck, I’d been writing for almost 6 straight hours and none of it was useful at all.
Then a mysterious thing happened. I went for a walk… took a breather and voila! Within an hour I had something that just might have been good enough to go.
What I had struggled 6 hours to do before… came almost in an instant.
And now that’s my first rule for killing writer’s block before it rears it’s ugly head.
Chill It!
1. Chill it! Get out of your chair. Do push-ups. Walk. Run. Get your blood moving and distract yourself for at least five minutes. Then relax. Nothing kills a writer faster than stress. It’s almost impossible to string two words together if you’re worried to a frazzle.
Yet another spiffy tip…
2. Scribble it out. One big mistake writers make… and I’m guilty of it too… is stressing out instead of writing out. You can spend ten hours in your chair and not get a thing on that page if all you do is fret over imperfections. Write first and don’t you dare edit a single word of it until you’re done writing.
*Emergency tip* If you’re absolutely stuck then just write anything at all. It doesn’t even have to make sense. Write your “to do” list at the top of your file. Write a note to your spouse. Just write, and write and write until you kill the writing demon.
3. Flip a book. I think this is the main reason I never suffered “writer’s block” in the past. Every time I get stuck, all I do is pick up a good book. I flip through it and pay attention to how they start chapters and paragraphs… and if I’m stuck… I’ll use their opening as a template to create my own sentence. I find this pulls me out of the gutter faster than a tow-truck pulls a ditched car.
Who knows, maybe it’ll work for you too.
Anyway, I just thought those were a few handy tips you’d appreciate. I’m sure you do enough writing of your own either through your “nerve center” blog or article marketing on Better Networker.
But if you did like this mini-rant on writer’s block… by all means… show me that you’re alive by leaving a comment below. 
It really makes my day.
And hey… it’s free advertising for you too.
Jason The “Better Networker”
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8 Comments
Brad Gosse on November 4th, 2009
I really like this. Sometimes the easiest way to get into the writing zone is to get away from the keyboard. The push ups tip is awesome. I fell so creative after a good workout.
[Reply]
November 4th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
@Brad
I use that one as a last resort… but hey
it works like a charm. I think exercise and
writing should go hand to hand.
As long as you’re not a major karate buff
and break blocks with your
hands… that’s a whole new level of
writer’s cramp/block. ;-(
[Reply]
Rebecca Geiger on November 4th, 2009
Hey Jason.
I started keeping a sentence journal. When I read something that is insightful I write that sentence down in my book so that when I need inspiration or direction or some tips or I want to remember… something important I have them there.
I also number them so that way I can keep track of how many I have.
Now that I am starting to write (hopefully more often) I have a number of subjects that I can glean from.
#84. Start with the smallest increment. I must start, get the process going and allow it to multiply. (fitting eh?)
hugs!
Thanks again for being the tasty part of my morning coffee routine.
[Reply]
November 4th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Hey Rebecca.
Now that’s one killer idea. I think I might
have to start one of my own. I have a book
like that for headlines and index cards too
but a sentence journal… that’s new to me.
[Reply]
Peter Montgomery on November 4th, 2009
Hi All,
I’m not real big on doing “normal” exercise.
If I need some Fresh blood flowing through my brain I’ll Crank up the volume on some funky beats and dance my heart out right in my office/home recording studio.
Beastie Boys, Chili Peppers or some Beck Usually does the trick.
I should film it one day and chuck it on YouTube.
Don’t know if that would help or hinder my marketing.
It’d be funny to watch though…
[Reply]
November 4th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Hey Peter.
Nothing wrong with that. Whatever
works… that’s the name of the game.
Yeah, the whole youtube thing could
be a mixed blessing but then you never
know. haha.
[Reply]
Didn’t know what to write here so I took a walk :O) No really this is timely. Am doing some article marketing to bring in traffic into my blog – yup – I got stuck for new topics to write about.
One thought that ran thru my head was, “how many ways can you skin a cat (my mlm business)”. The chill out helped.
The thought came to me while changing my attention to read this blog and write this note. So i quickly jotted down the idea into my iPhone.
Thanks, now back to that article idea…
Andy
[Reply]
November 4th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
@Andy
Yeah, somedays it feels like that.
With so many articles out there…
and having written so many too. At
times it feels like there’s nothing new.
But just then inspiration pops up and
you wonder where it’s been all this
time.
Oh the sweet trials of writing.
[Reply]