Getting started with blogging

The blank screen or empty sheet of paper is absolutely the toughest obstacle to keeping your website content updated with regular content or blog posts.

I know from my own personal experience that there are some days, where the words simply will not flow, luckily I’ve discovered a few tips that have been instrumental in getting me started again.

There are no miracle cures for what some people would describe as a writer’s block, and since I don’t class myself as a writer [in my definition, a person who turns words into money),I choose to call this ‘blockage’ by the name of its more familiar and old-fashioned cousin,?Procrastination!

In that respect, feeling that you are unable to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, is no different to making cold sales calls or chasing overdue invoices. It is procrastination and the root cause of it will be fear, plain and simple.

Not a pretty word, but it seems to me to be the only explanation that holds water, whether it be fear of seeming foolish, fear of what others might think,?or just good old fashioned imposter syndrome – the fear of being ‘found out, it’s fear right enough, and in my opinion the way to it tackle is head-on, armed with a plan.

First, let’s examine the worse thing that can happen by putting pen to paper.?

People might read it,?and disagree with you – well that’s fine, in the big wide world that is the Internet, there are bound to be some who don’t share your views. Providing you only write truthful words and are not rude or libelous content, it will be just another case of ‘sticks and stones..?Growing a thicker skin is part of facing your fears too!

People might not read it and the effort has been wasted. Whether it is read or not the fact that it has been produced should be enough for at least two of the parties concerned. Firstly Google will notice it at some point and secondly, you will know it has been done, and by it’s doing you have moved yourself a single step closer to banishing the fear.

So my simple plan?

Choose your frequency of writing, weekly, daily, monthly, bi-monthly or some other period and?COMMIT to writing a set number of words for that period.?

Set up a reminder?system so that the objective cannot slip from view, whether it is in your diary, and set up the time to do it while you are about it

Use the timer on your computer to write solidly for a set period of time. It’s amazing what a bit of real focus can achieve.

Create a list of titles?before you even start your first article, when building the list consider what surfers are looking for in your particular field,

for example, 3 simple methods to xxx. Or How to…

The evening before your booked writing session, choose a title from the list and think about it before going to bed, you’ll be surprised at how many ideas the mind pops up with the following morning.

Turn off all distractions?during the writing period, no email, no phone no text message and definitely?no anti-social media!

Spell check and check again and then just publish, no if’s no but’s. In the early days, near enough is often good enough. Better to have a rough piece of work than no work at all.

Publishing will, in turn, bring confidence and drive down fear and uncertainty, and with most blogging platforms, if it really is a piece of rubbish you can alter, update or delete it later, The true secret of getting things done, is to actually?get started!