Writers block: the blogger's edition

[RootedPhoenix]

So I have a blog. I signed up and was approved for the Amazon Associates program. YAY!

Except I have to post in order for this thing to make money. Cue anxiety about how it must be perfect. Aaand cue writer's block.

How do I solve this? I mean, I know what I want to talk about, but I can't get over myself to do it.

ETA: This blog isn't the one that's in my sig. That one may or may not link to the current blog, though.

[ArcticChicken]

Sit down, set yourself a timer for five minutes, ten minutes, half an hour, something like that. Write whatever comes into your head. No editing allowed. At the end of the time, you can start editing.

[sms001]

Pretty much that ^^^^ except you might find it easier to tell yourself that you WON'T write on a blog subject - anything but. So, the weather, or my dog, or how paint dries, etc. Good luck.

[Seshat]

Bum on seat. Words on page.

[Chanlin]

The simple solution to writers block is to not give a crap.

As the others said, just write, don't care about what goes on the page. Free writing, stream of consciousness and so on are all good methods to generate ideas. Many very successful authors use a method called discovery writing. That is: think of a random silly thought, use that as a starting point, and then start writing whatever comes to mind.

I suggest checking out the podcast Writing Excuses. Its a podcast produce by several notable Authors/Novelists.

Especially their piece on discovery writing they lovingly call Pantsing because you are writing by the seat of your pants.

Also this episode: Butt in chair, Hands on Keyboard is their surefire cure for Writers Block.

[AnaKhouri]

That's Mike Resnick's best advice when people ask him how to write. "Sit your ass in a chair and write." (paraphrased)

I agree that you should write without thinking of editing until it is done. Everything you might want to change can be changd then. Do not try to edit mid-passage. It will slow you down and hang you up and you will never finish anything this way.

[Seshat]

To expand on 'bum on seat, words on page': I read that in a little book my family gave me: writer's advice to other writers.

For me, it means to get words onto the page. Any words. At times, I've had sections of writing that started out "I don't want to write I don't want to write I don't want to write..."

Usually that segues into WHY I don't want to write .. and then what it is that I don't want to write about ... and what I don't want to write ... and hey wow, I could edit that last bit into the thing I was sitting down to get written.


You can edit almost any crap into something useful. But you cannot, CANNOT, edit a blank page. So spew crap onto it. Write something, anything. Just .. write.


I do the same thing with art. If I'm staring at a blank canvas, I'll pick up a pencil or a paintbrush or a pastel and draw SOMETHING onto it. A line. A squiggle. A swirl. And that will eventually become something.

One became the body and tail of a mermaid. My husband loves that piece.

[sms001]

I've had sections of writing that started out "I don't want to write I don't want to write I don't want to write..."

And if no one here is thinking "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy...." then I'll be very disappointed.

[TheSHAD0W]

I recently read an article that said the best way to cure writer's block is to write something that's deliberately horrible...

[dalesys]

I recently read an article that said the best way to cure writer's block is to write something that's deliberately horrible...

Twilight?

[Kara]

Yeah, I haven't written anything in my blog for about a year >.>