Conquering Blogger’s Block

Every blogger has had those days when words are especially hard to come by, and all the sentences you type out sound wrong.  Or what about those times when you feel like you’re out of fresh ideas and you feel like you have nothing new to say about your niche?  Blogger’s block is a common but frustrating obstacle for a lot of bloggers, especially because it’s a waste of time and the daily opportunity to make money blogging.  

Nonetheless, there are ways to fight that dreaded block, or even prevent it from happening.  Here are a couple of tips that you can keep in mind so you never run out of words or ideas:

1.  Get a change of scenery
It can get pretty boring working in just one place all day.  Why not pick a different spot to work in to literally get a different view on things?  The change in scenery can spur you towards new ideas that can kick your blogging into action.  Choose a spot that you don’t usually work in, such as the terrace or the dining table.  You don’t even have to stay in your house!  Head out to a coffee shop you like, plug in your laptop, and type away while enjoying a cup of good coffee.

Working with a PC and can’t just move anywhere?  Well, you can still do with a change of scenery!  Take a 10-15 minute break and go for a walk, catch a snippet of your favorite show, or run a brief errand.  The point is to try to get a different perspective – literally and figuratively – so you can give your article a new and different spin.

2.  Move away from distractions
Don’t set yourself up for a bout of blogger’s block by positioning yourself in a place that’s chock-full of potential distractions.  Turn off the TV and the radio, or anything else that might keep you from thinking clearly.  If people are making a lot of noise, politely ask them to tone it down a bit.

Potential sources of distraction can also come right from your PC: games on your hard drive and certain websites can suck you in for a long time if you don’t exercise caution and restraint.  Do your best to focus on your work, and set aside a time for leisurely browsing.

3.  There’s no need to be perfect
You don’t have to be a Pulitzer-prize winning author to be a successful blogger, and your entries don’t always have to be perfectly written for you to publish them.  Even some of today’s biggest bloggers still commit a fair amount of grammatical or spelling mistakes, and not all of their entries are impressive.  Don’t feel pressured into making each entry of yours into the best one of your career:  instead, strive to make entries that are interesting, informative, and useful to your audience.  That’s more than enough in many ways.

4.  Pre-empt the block
Prevention is still better than any cure, and this principle holds true even for blogging.  To stop blogger’s block from even happening, draw up a calendar or game plan for each month, and fill it up with ideas for each day that you have to blog.  Doing this will definitely keep you from having to think later on about what to blog next, and you can focus on how you’ll make money blogging.

So when the next block hits, don’t get too stressed out.  All bloggers go through this once in a while, and it’s never an insurmountable obstacle.  All you need to do is make a  focus a little more on the job at hand, relax a little, and take it easy on yourself.  Sooner or later, you’ll find yourself typing away and churning out that article you thought had already escaped you.