syphrix's lôg spot

8 Steps to Defeating Writer's Block

2009-05-21T16:46:00.003-04:00

Most people have encountered writer's block at an early stage in life. It's usually at school when the teacher issues a writing assignment that isn't particularly lucrative sounding at the time. You begin to think about the many other things that you could be doing at that time. Things like recess, lunch, building a sweet fort, climbing a tree, etc. And before you know it you can't think of a single sentence to write that's related to your assignment.

While it's a bit more whimsical to think of writer's block in terms of grade school, it can have some real consequences later in life when you are expected to meet rigid writing deadlines or put food on the table by selling your next article. Luckily, there are some sure fire techniques that I know and use to combat writer's block at school, the workplace, online, and elsewhere.

1. Stop Censoring Yourself

I don't mean in language, but in thought. This is the first and most important step. Too often, people tend to discredit an idea before it ever gets traction in their minds. Allow your creativity some room to breathe and don't throw out an idea just because it sounds too difficult or farfetched to express at first glance.

2. Read Often

Make a daily habit of reading something of interest. Not only does this make you a better writer, but it spurs creativity. Take a trip to your local library and just browse interesting subjects for an hour or two. You'll find that even that small amount of reading can really stimulate your creative side.

3. Stop Being Afraid of Bad Drafts

It's a draft for a reason, and it's also why we have the editing process. Turning a bad piece of writing into a good piece of writing is a lot easier than writing something good from just the whizzing thoughts in your head.

4. Take a Break

Your mind needs a rest just like any other part of your body. Sometimes when you've spent all day or night working on something, you lose the ability to think clearly and focus on what's important. Your mind will begin to wander to distant places that you'd rather be and you won't be able to even draw up the motivation to write another sentence. Go do something else that you enjoy, and don't come back until you've forgotten about the subject of your writing for at least a little while. A fresh mind goes a long way.

5. Focus on the Tree, Not the Forrest

By this I mean only think about the thing you are writing about right now. Don't focus on all the other things you want to write about tomorrow or next week. If you find this difficult to do, you may need to narrow your writing topic to something more specific and maybe write multiple articles or publications on the original topic.

6. Schedule Writing Time

You can schedule this time to be every day or just a few days a week. Either way, make sure you set aside some time to just focus on your writing without distraction. If someone asks you to be available during your writing time, tell them you cannot because you're writing. If you tend to think about everything else you have to do while writing, try making a list of those things before you sit down to write. This can help ease your mind of those responsibilities.

7. Reflect on Previous Writing Experiences

Reflect on the good and bad ones. In regards to a good writing experience, how did the process happen from start to end? What does that experience have in common with other good writing experiences? Likewise, do the same for bad writing experiences. Often, you'll find that you may have a common denominator in helping or preventing your writing process. Write these things down once you find out what they are and post them near to where you write.

8. Try Something New

Try something new, or do something out of the ordinary. This one works best for me because it heightens my senses and arouses creativity. Have you ever explored an abandoned building? Built a tree fort? Taken an impulsive road trip? All these can be great adventures. Nothing breeds creativity like a new life experience. You only live once! You might as well have something interesting to write about.

Source

Writing Articles More Productively

2009-05-18T19:00:00.002-04:00

Many people have the notion that writing is some mystical skill that cannot be attained by themselves. This is far from the truth and is part of what contributes to many individuals' inability to write cohesively. Writing, like any other skill, can be accomplished through practice and knowledge.

~Treat it Like a Job~

This is very important. If you sit down to write and don't think of it as a job, you will become so self-critical that you may not ever finish what you are trying to write because it's never good enough. You'll beat yourself up over it. Imagine if you called into work and told your boss that you can't come in because you don't feel good about the quality of your work. Do you think that would go over well? No, of course not. So from now on, when you sit in front of that blank piece of paper or text document, it becomes your boss. Your job is to finish what you started regardless of how you feel about it.

~You're Human~

Rid yourself of the notion that you can write everything you know about a selected topic in just that one article. This is patently untrue of any human being. So quit beating yourself up about this and just write the most basic and pertinent information about your topic of choice.

~Make an Outline~

Before you add in all the small details of your article you need to first outline the structure of what you want to write. Take this article for example. I spent a great deal of mental energy and time thinking of each step. I didn't write step number one and then come up with the second step after that. On the contrary, I sat down with my topic, created the title, stated what I wanted to accomplish, and listed titles for each step to accomplish the goal of my article. This frees up your mind to focus on one thing at a time when writing because it doesn't have to remember what it's going to do next...

--> You can read the rest of the article here <--

Dealing with How-To Writer's Block

2009-05-15T15:06:00.003-04:00

I've discovered that having writer's block when it comes to writing how-to articles is just a simple issue of not thinking of the right verbs. A good verb brings life to a sentence and can spur a lot of ideas. Just put a good verb like 'Improve' after the words 'How to' and that alone can trigger a flood of things that you know how to improve. I've decided to compile a list of good verbs that can go with thousands of ideas just on their own.

How to Improve...
How to Eliminate...
Clean...
Obtain
Build
Choose
Shop (for)
Destroy
Gather
Defeat
Overcome
Battle
Maintain
Perform
Inspect
Check
Make
Deal (with)
Avoid
Negotiate
Manage
Achieve
Prevent
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Remove
Practice
Change
Use
Find

That's just what I came up with in a few minutes. Find some interesting verbs that inspire you.

2009-05-12T15:05:00.000-04:00

This photo was taken in Seattle at Gasworks Park overlooking Lake Union. It's absolutely gorgeous there. I promise I'll post a big long entry detailing our adventures in and around the Emerald city as soon as I get the rest of the pictures we took from a friend of mine.

Cheers!

Quick Update

2009-05-07T02:21:00.000-04:00

I'm back from a wonderful trip to Seattle. I'm going to post some pictures and video once I get a chance. I'm off to bed for now, though.

Cheers!

eHow April

2009-04-30T15:06:00.000-04:00

Today marks the end of April and my 3rd week writing for eHow. My total for April is five and a half bucks and I'm just happy I made something. As it stands I will continue to write and hopefully next month I'll have much more earnings to speak of. I leave for a trip to Seattle in a couple of days so I'm going to hopefully post a few extra articles before then.

Cash Crate

2009-04-27T23:17:00.000-04:00

I'm actually making some money at Cash Crate right now. I joined just a couple weeks ago and I'm up to just over $40. Pretty cool if you ask me, you just have to know how to handle the offers. Check it out at CashCrate.com

Rawr!!!

2009-04-25T23:36:00.000-04:00

3 articles today. I could have done probably 2 more but I got sidetracked by my guitar =X Another earnings update too, up to $4 w00h00!

Anyhow, here's a great one for you bloggers and social network addicts out there How to Update All of Your Blogs / Social Networks at Once

eHow

2009-04-23T12:15:00.000-04:00

Well, today marks a fortnight of writing at eHow (2 weeks for the uninitiated) and my earnings are at $3.71. I'm not sure if this is a good sign or not but I feel good about it. I have 23 articles but only a few have actually made me money and most of the money is from 2 of my articles, both of which are finance related. If that's an omen of things to come then I'll probably focus more on financial tips & tricks for my articles. I'll post more when I get more earnings updates and such, but I'm off to band practice for now -- laterz.

~Mike