Writer’s Block Gone for Good!
Posted by Jeff Herring on 24 Jan 2008 at 02:35 pm | Tagged as: Article Writing
As an article writer, you do not ever need to have writer’s block.
I’m serious. Never have it again.
Actually, I really don’t believe it exists. Have you ever had eating block? Not likely.
Writer’s block is just a “story” that got created and played up so much that now we are supposed to believe it really exists.
End of philosophy lesson.
Action point ==> Have several articles in various stages of development. In this way, if you do not seem to be getting anywhere with one article, move on to another, and then another, until you find one where the creative juices are flowing.
Several of my students have had the experience of just not being able to write. That’s one reason why it makes sense to use teleseminars and other recordings to write your articles and ebooks. Alex Mandossian takes the analogy even further when he says that we never get speaker’s block. I also like your idea of having more than one article going at a time.
I know that the multiple-articles-in-progress approach works for a lot of people. I think you and they are more disciplined writers than I.
If I were to go on to another article when I got stuck, I’d end up the week with nothing completed!
I’ve learned that when the words aren’t flowing it’s usually because of one of the following:
a)I’ve lost sight of the reader;
b)I’ve lost sight of the result I want; or
c)I’m getting into too much detail and making the piece too complex.
So when I reach an impasse, I seat my reader at the end of my desk about three feet away from me to my right. Then he (or she) and I discuss the topic, with me playing both parts. In a few minutes, I know what the reader wants and needs to know, and I can return to the keyboard and type it out or dictate it.
Lou gets the award for best idea of the week!
Jeff