The ups and downs of writing blog posts
Well, it has been over a week since my first post and I have been deliberating and procrastinating about what to write next. I never thought that writing blog posts would be so difficult.
The trouble is that there is so much to write about that I feel overwhelmed by it all and choose not to do stuff. I always say put procrastination off until tomorrow!
It sounds so easy and in reality very few people have any problems in communicating with others. We do it unconsciously – it’s when you try to do it consciously that the blocks occur. The old negative internal voice kicks in and we talk ourselves down and demotivate ourselves. So we need to deal with this in some way.
The cold turkey way is to sit in front of your keyboard or pick up a piece of paper and a pen and just start writing. That’s what Steven Pressfield advocates in his book The War of Art
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Perhaps a gentler way to encourage you to write is to ask yourself some useful questions about writing blog posts.
Here are 3 questions that might help you to start writing blog posts:
1. What would I like to let go of? It could be letting go of frustration, letting go of the blocks about writing, letting go of beliefs about our ability to write or letting go of the internal voice. (I don’t know what it might be for you – just trust the process).
2. What would that create space for? (It could be creating space for more creative thought, more relaxation, a clearer and more open mindset, a link to your muse).
3. What else do you notice when you think about letting go of that thing? (Just notice what comes up for you, it could be an idea or a strategy for writing differently, or a realisation about what has been getting in the way).
Follow this process to get the most from this inquiry:
- Sit in a quiet space and ask yourself the first question.
- Allow the answers to bubble up from your unconscious.
- Write down what comes through to capture your wisdom (this might make a good tweet or blog post!)
- Continue the same process with each question.
- Re-read your notes and see where that takes you.
- Thank yourself for giving time to let go of things that are no longer useful to you.
You might want to get help from someone you trust to guide you through the exercise but that is not always necessary.
And when you do come to writing a blog post, what you put down might sound a bit cheesy to start off with or seem like a stream of consciousness that is going nowhere. However you’ll be surprised what comes out after you start typing/writing. And you can always go back and amend it once there is something there.
I’d be interested to know how you got along with this process. It has helped me and my clients to move past blocks around writing blog posts and in many other contexts.
Sometimes we need to take away rather than add!
The way to get started is to stop talking and start doing – Walt Disney.
How do you deal with the obstacles that prevent you from writing blog posts?
I would also recommend that people shouldn’t feel obliged to write a long essay. There is no set length for a blog post and knowing that an article can only be a few words long might be helpful!
Thanks Nicky you raise a great point here.
There is no real hard and fast rule about the length of a blog post. I’ve seen some that are more like essays and some which are more like tweets. What is important is that you express your idea or point in as clear and concise a way as possible. The purpose is to keep the reader’s attention and for your wisdom to be understood. Only then will the reader change their thinking or take action.