Written on July 8th, 2005 at 04:07 am by Darren Rowse
Bloggers Block – Just Say Something
Peter has something good to say about those times when you have nothing to say – writers block.
His advice? Say something – even if it doesn’t feel too profound.
It’s a good point.
In fact it’s a strategy I use regularly and find to work for me. It’s quite amazing how often when you begin to write (usually complete drivel at first) that as you write you can often stumble upon something that’s pure gold.
Of course in these instances I usually delete the first paragraph or so – but some of my best posts emerged out of… well nothing.
12 Responses to “Bloggers Block – Just Say Something” - Add Yours
Ken
July 8th, 2005 5:39 am
I’ve mentioned this before on other posts, but Joel Saltzman’s “If You Can Talk, You Can Write” really is a great primer on this.
Progress, Not Perfection is the mantra of the book. If you keep writing, you eventually will come up with SOMETHING. Even if only 5-10% of it is good, that’s still 5-10% more that you can build upon and so on.
I think the hardest part of writing is getting over the perfectionist mentality. Life is messy, so is our work, people only see the final product, so it’s okay to sketch around ideas, no matter how wild they are. Applies to photography, music, writing and technology. Those the fields I work in and realize that you can learn a lot just by messing around.
Chris Abraham
July 8th, 2005 6:29 am
That is the best advice for both bloggers and writers. Just write. In fact, readers like seeing my less-polished process-based work — it reinforces that this is an approachable medium.
Chrispian
July 8th, 2005 6:31 am
My entire blog is built around this, hence the name “Nothing to Say” ;)
John (SYNTAGMA)
July 8th, 2005 6:34 am
You have to oil the engine to make it purr.
Cary
July 8th, 2005 7:16 am
You said it : ) As a newish blogger, but long-time writer, I truly believe that getting over writer’s block is just a matter of writing a couple of sentences even when you think you’ve got nothing to say…it almost always works for me, anyways…
eckes
July 8th, 2005 7:33 am
That “go on writing anything” is a good Tip from creative writing authors. For example Natalie Goldberg is singing that song all the time. And yes that not only works for Book Authors.
JSLogan
July 8th, 2005 7:50 am
When I hit a writing block I start reading – blogs, newsletters, magazines, books, newspapers – anything related to my domain. It works for me…
Mike McLaughlin
July 8th, 2005 8:13 am
Great post and comments.
In her book, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott talks about the process of writing and refers to the “Shitty First Draft”–excuse the language. Lamott suggests that all good writers do them, and they’re usually pure drivel.
But buried in that SFD is something really good that can be shaped into a great idea. When I just write, I get my best ideas. And through editing–which is where the best writers shine–you can polish up your idea.
Danger Stevens
July 8th, 2005 8:44 am
Whoah, I’d totally forgotten about this. Good advice, I think I’ll start using it.
Phoenixrealm » Blog Archive » Bloggers Block - Another Form of Writers Block
July 8th, 2005 8:50 am
[...] Block
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Thanks to ProBlogger.net for pointing out this article on having nothing t [...]
Cary
July 8th, 2005 8:56 am
Hey Mike,
Anne Lamott is right on the money there…really good writing is almost always created during editing. Although because of time restraints I think most bloggers are skipping editing almost entirely ; D That includes me!
Fred
July 8th, 2005 11:19 am
Hello,
Is is exactly what happen today: I blocked. So I wrote about something that I know that I will have to do in next weeks/months (project management), just to help me to make it clear in my head.
I will know if it will deblock my inspiration in next days ;)
Salutations,
Fred
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