Today I’m doing something a little different–my very first guest post! My awesome, humble, genius friend Mark offered to write for me and I jumped at the chance. Check him out on his Twitter timeline or stop by his personal site, Twitter Stars.
With all the changes buzzing about in my life, I’ve stopped writing. I used to write for two hours every single day. I love writing. So, what have I been doing? Well, I’ve been blurbing on Twitter like a maniac. I’ve also been developing a new media company and a blog network. I haven’t even been in the frame of mind to write lately.
I asked @jfritsche if I could write a blog post for her. I don’t really have a point or a topic. I just wanted to write. Why? Because I enjoy writing! So, my topic is, I forgot how to write.
@jfritsche wanted me to write about my process of writing. Jokingly I had told her, “I like to write while not wearing pants.” This isn’t true. That’s my weird sense of humor at work. In reality, my process is simple; just start writing.
If I focused on the result instead of just working the task, I would not have started writing here and now. I think a big part of writer’s block is that we tend to fret about the outcome. Instead, I trusted that I could write and just started clacking away in this little WordPress box.
I am so used to writing in 140 character bursts now that making a short blog post could have seemed overwhelming. Instead I chose to write fearlessly. I just jumped right into it.
At this point, I’m at about 250 words or so. For most blog posts, this is a pretty good length. For me, I like to ramble, so I’m shooting for a full 500 words.
So, now that I’ve fired off my first 250 words and have pretty much covered my topic in its entirety, what do I write about? That’s another impediment to making blog posts, isn’t it? A good share of the time, we aren’t sure what to write about, right? That’s a tricky one. Your best bet is to not think about the results but once again, to just start writing.
When I haven’t written in a long time, as the case is now, I feel stiff. My written voice is labored and pedantic. I don’t feel free. I don’t feel creative. The only solution is to forget about the results and just focus on the now, taking it one word at a time. Not worrying about the outcome. Not focusing on the process. Not thinking about anything other than my next word.
So, I am writing here, without thought. Oh, no. This article is horrible isn’t it? So what! So what if this post is horrible! I can always go back and edit it later. The most important thing for me to do is to write.
If you find your flow and get into your groove; keep writing! Knock out a couple of blog posts, so you have content in reserve for those times when you don’t have the time to sit down and write.
Be consistent! Make a new blog post everyday!
To re-cap:
- Just start writing
- Focus on the task, not on the results
- Don’t worry about what you are going write or even your topic
- Trust that once you start, you’ll find your words
- 250 words is a good size for a blog post; keep your post to 500 words max
- Once you start writing and find your groove, knock out a couple of posts
- Blog consistently, make a post every day
Word Counts - Today: 0 | May: 4,473 | 2008: 4,473
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
The Host: A Novel
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Buccaneers (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
You forgot “Don’t wear pants”.
I think he makes an exception for leather pants.
Yay Mark! This reminds me of something I wrote recently, “Back to Basics Blogging.” It’s so easy to get caught up in the rights and wrongs of social media and how to put yourself out there. People need to do what you just did…write, write, write.
/me waves to Jess. If we’re all as lucky as you, we’ll even get paid to write!
Hey, Mark:
I knew there was a reason we get along so well: The first four points in your recap also offer a great capsule description of my book about writing (pause for shameless self-promotion) - The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write. They’re tips that apply to writing of all sorts, not just blogging.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom. Keep at it!
Great one. I don’t really blog, but do love to write, and the most important thing is just to keep doing it, daily! Daily writing really is exercising your brain “writing” muscle:-)
Great post…very rambly…just like me! haha!