The nice thing about this blogging challenge is that Sarah sends daily emails with ideas and lessons, but you don't have to follow her prompts if you don't want to.
I'm all about flexibility.
BUT on days when you aren't really sure what to blog about (well hey there, today!) it's absolutely awesome when her "assignment" is to talk about how you power through blocks in your business.
How handy!
So here's my best tip and the thing I'm working on applying... if your blog is your bakery and you want to regularly have those
Spend time every day doing at least some blog post "baking."
I was thinking about this today when I was baking a double batch of muffins for my family.
The only reason my muffins ever come out half-baked is when I'm in a rush. And the only reason I'm ever in a rush baking is because I didn't start the process soon enough before a deadline.
The same is true of my blogging. Or photography. Or school work. Or house work. Whatever it is!
I have to spend at least some time every day preparing for blog posts!
It's not that I often have writer's block, per se; it's more that I have too much "baking prep" to do and not enough time to prepare AND get the post into the "oven!"
I have a huge list of things I can't wait to post about.
Funny how posts don't write themselves.
So I experience writer's block most often because I find that none of those great ideas are ready to go into the oven... and come out in a reasonable amount of time as a great post!
If there hasn't been brainstorming, drafting, photographing, and editing, then that's when I'm going to hit a block. Because 8pm at night is too late to worry about starting that process.
But... back to my double batch of muffins!
It didn't take that long to prep the batter, and then I had a batch baking while I had the rest of the dough at the ready on the counter!
Sometimes if I'm sitting down for my daily prep, I realize I'm on a roll and I get more than one post ready at a time! (I learned from Sarah that this is called batch writing and it's just so dang smart!) The times that I've worked ahead like that have been a life-saver.
And that, my friends, is the beauty of daily prep.
Then the next time I hit a block, I've got some "batter" at the ready!
Fellow bloggers, writers, artists, photographers, and creative souls... what do you do to combat blocks?
I'd love to see your tips in the comments!
Jessica, that was sooo beautifully written! I haven't experience block yet, but I HAVE started my actual blog writing even later than 8pm many evenings and it feels like much more of a climb indeed!
ReplyDeleteYou've done a great job. I love your writing and of course, your gorgeous photography. :-)
Wow thank you so much for such a kind comment! You really made me smile!
DeleteAs a regular blogger for my own site and content writer for others I often struggle with writers block, and I cope with it in the same kind of way you do. I spend at least an hour a week listing ideas for blogs for my site, from there I look at what I've written before and how popular it is (whether visits or on social) and consider if I could add something of value - if not i put it at the bottom of the list, if i've something to say then I will write the post. Sometimes I write and post in the next slot on SEOAndy, other times I leave the idea and content to stew and come back to review it later and add more value to it.
ReplyDeleteFor clients I encourage the same behaviour though usually it happens less than once a week they will site to gather ideas.
Writers Block is not about lack of ideas I find, its simply that you've so many possible ideas and aren't sure which will work - so write them down and do the math. If you genuinely can't find an idea to write about, look at your competitors and ask your audience, your audience / fans will always help out. If you still feel stuck, simply come back another day you are too tired.
And there in is the second secret, I write until I need to stop. That means I can write 5 or 6 blogs in half a day sometimes, and they are pretty good. But with writing so much can come deminishing rewards, so always get "bulk written" articles proofed.
Hope that helps!
Andy
Andy thank you so much for such a helpful comment! I hadn't thought about prioritizing my idea list according to popularity. So smart. I also love the idea of asking my readers when I get stuck! Great idea! I am definitely going to keep your thoughts in mind as I keep working to get the good ideas written. Thanks again for commenting!
DeleteJessica, your blog is so interesting, every time I visit I get sucked in. I think that's a good thing. But my muffins might burn.
ReplyDeleteI love the baking analogy for blog post preparation. I have had success with this strategy at times. Right now I'm working on creating a backlog of not-seasonally sensitive posts (essay style, if you will) that I can throw up on the blog those weeks when the preparation of a particular post is taking more time than I thought. I compare these post to freezer meals--you pop them in when you're too busy to make dinner. So, the principles of bulk food prep apply widely to blogging. Thanks for getting my mind thinking on this. I think it's gonna help my blogging.
Trina! The freezer meal idea is so fabulous! I have a few of those posts in the queue that never seem to get written, and oh man if I could just get them done and freeze them for later that would save so many "oh crap what am I going to write about" days! Thank you for taking the time to give such a helpful comment, I really appreciate it. Now I have to get back to baking. Or writing. Or straining chicken stock. Or wrapping gifts... whatever it was I was supposed to be doing before I jumped on the computer for "just a second" haha! Hugs from Germany!
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