Typically, I don’t have too much of a problem with writer’s block, as long as I’m “allowed” to write what comes out of my fingers instead of what comes out of my head. It’s when my head gets involved that trouble starts…
For example, I have a super long article on linking errors in Microsoft Visual C++ which my head is telling me to make longer and longer, cover every case, make it the most brilliant piece of technical literature available on linking errors on the whole World Wide Web (did I just date myself…?).
My fingers are telling me that half the article is crap, and will take a LOT of work to finish to my usual high standards for both readability and accuracy. My fingers also tell me the other half is pretty darn good and should be published immediately (which I did).
There’s always this from Hemingway:
There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
Trust your fingers
If you’re in this for the long haul, as I am, trust your fingers to do your writing for you. For example, this article is rolling out as fast as I can type. I feel compelled to write it!
And it’s easy. If it was too hard, it would not the article I should be writing.
The point is this: once you have a certain amount of writing under your belt, just sit down and write. Don’t think about it, just do it. The words will either flow or they won’t, and if they won’t, you’re writing the wrong article, or you shouldn’t be writing at all.
Turning the wrong article into the right article
So you’re stuck. But you have to write, you’re just compelled. You have a stack of draft articles as long as your arm, you’ve been following my advice… but none of these drafts are speaking to you at the moment.
Here’s how to render at least one of those drafts publishable:
- Start at the top of your stack and read each draft carefully.
- When you find something to write about in that draft, stop reading and start writing.
- Write until you’re finished, maybe one sentence, maybe you finished the article and published it.
If you didn’t publish after you finished writing, go to the next article, and read until you have to write. Write until you’re finished writing.
- Wash, rinse, repeat until you’re done writing. You may or may not have something to publish this time, but you will be closer for the next time.
- Alternatively, if you use WordPress as I do, sometimes I start at the bottom of the stack. Each time I add to an article and save it, the article date is updated and the article goes to the top of my stack. This is a great way to give yourself some variety.
Now for the key: if you start writing in an article, and the writing takes you in a different direction, follow that different direction! You may be developing a new article within the original article, which you will need to extract from the draft into it’s own article. Keep writing until you’re finished, and don’t be surprised, when you finish, that you have a totally new article that’s very well written, which you can publish immediately.
