Struggling to Blog? 15 Proven Ways to Crush Blogger’s Block

You’re sitting at your laptop for the last one hour and the words just don’t come.

You know what you want to say but when you type out those words, they come out all wrong.

You just can’t think of what to write about.

You haven’t blogged in weeks and just don’t feel the joy.

You aren’t alone. You aren’t going crazy.

You’re just suffering from blogger’s block and the best part is there is a cure.

In fact, we have 15 cures to beat blogging blocks and write a killer blog post, right now: 

 15 Ways to Beat Blogger’s Block For Good

Pick a method or a combination of them and get ready to crush that block right now and free up your creativity.

1. Understand Your Writing System

Only you know what your writing system and flow is like and you need to respect that.

For instance, for me, writing is super easy when I do it early in the morning with zero distractions and a rested mind. Come afternoon, I can sit and stare at my laptop screen for hours and not an idea will come. So, I respect my process and make sure that the early morning hours are sacred and reserved exclusively for writing.

Your writing system can be writing in bits and pieces as and when the urge strikes you, so go with that. Do it.

It can be writing in batches and chunking articles together. Do that.

 2. Start with a Template

Sometimes when you can’t think of what to write about, it is a good idea to start with a template.

For instance, you can have a “How to {drop any idea}” template that can look like this

 Title

 Introduction or Reason

 Step 1

 Step 2

 Step 3

 Result and Benefit

Call to Action

With a template all you need to then do is just fill in the blanks and then, add more meat to it as you let it sit awhile. Having a template gives you a structure of sorts to begin with and once the creative juice starts flowing, you’ll be on a roll.

 3. Use a Timer

I’m a BIG timer gal and love using timers for everything, from baking to spending time on Pinterest. Any way, back to the point, set a timer for 15 minutes and just write. Write whatever comes into your head. Don’t bother about structure, grammar, spellings or even the idea of the post. Just get into the zone and write.

4. Write a Draft

Sometimes, writing a draft is much easier than writing a full post. A draft can be rough, ugly, warts and all. You aren’t “scared” about showing it to the outside world. Write a post, rough edges and all. Walk away and then, come back to it later to edit, refine, revise and review. For now, just think you’re writing a draft.

5. Nurture Your Creativity

As bloggers and business owners, we’re guilty {yes, we all are!} of holing ourselves up in our own little worlds and then, we whine about not having any ideas.

Get out there! Now! Leave the laptop, tablet and smartphone at home. Observe people the old-fashioned way. No, don’t leer or stare. That may land you in trouble. Just see how people behave, what they say, how they interact. If people aren’t your thing, spend some time with animals or flowers, do crafts, go shopping,  take your pick.

 Creative folks require creative strokes and you aren’t going to make that happen by sitting at home and staring at the screen.

 6. Read to Write Better

That’s right. Your mind will be a fertile ground of ideas if you water it right. Books, blogs, magazines are all great sources of inspiration and when you’re stuck, just don’t force yourself. Instead, pick a book and throw yourself into it. You’ll be amazed at the ideas that come to you once you’re done reading.

 7. Have an Organized System

I have an organized system for my blogging needs and business. I invest time in creating an editorial calendar, a blogging checklist and scheduling time for blogging.

An organized system may not work for everyone but if you’re the sort who thrives on structure, you’ll love knowing what you have to write about and then, go from there.

 BONUS: Download a free editorial calendar template here 

 8. Schedule Blogging Time

Part of my system for blogging includes scheduling time for it. Like I said, I devote the entire early morning slot of my workday to blogging.

How does scheduling time beat a blogger block?

By getting you in the habit to sit down at the same time every day and write. It may work. It may not. But you’ll never know until you try it. So, give it a shot.

 9. Capture Your Ideas

You know when the best idea hits you? When you don’t have a laptop with you. That is why it is so important to have some sort of idea capturing system in place. For me, it is a notebook and pen with me, the Notes application in my smartphone, Evernote. It may seem a lot but it works for me.

Every time an idea crops up, I know I have some place to jot it in and come back to later.

 10. Interact with Other Bloggers

The wonderful thing about blogging is the community and if you aren’t making use of it, you’re losing out, big time. The next time you can’t think of what to write about, mosey over to one of your favorite blogs, read a post or two, and comment.

Join a group or forum if you haven’t already. Ask what other bloggers are struggling with? Share, vent, celebrate. Interact and you’ll free up a lot of that blocked creative source, magically.

 11. Ask Your Readers

Struggling to find something to write about? Ask the people who matter the most. Your readers. Derek Halpern of Social Triggers does this with his newsletter and you could sorta swipe it for your blog. At the end of every blog post, along with the call-to-action, ask any of these questions:

What is your biggest struggle with {insert your expertise area}?

I’m planning a new series around {expertise area} and would love to know what will YOU want to learn?

How can I help make {expertise area} GOOD for you?

Invite readers to email you or share with you in the comments. And when they do, please acknowledge and respond.

12. Ask Yourself

Maybe your blog is so new that there aren’t too many readers. Or maybe your readers, themselves, don’t know what they want. So, how about YOU ask yourself? You run a business. You know what your ideal customer struggles with. You feel their pain. Now address it. Ask yourself what would your customer want to know the most about. And then, go from there.

 13. Solve a Problem

When you’re stuck with “What should I write about?”, how about you just solve a problem? Say, you’re in the jewelry business and you’re stuck thinking what should I write about.

Think about a few problems that your customers have and then, solve those.

A few ideas, include:

1. What to look out for when buying a diamond ring for the first time?
2. How to clean jewelry?
3. What to keep in mind when buying jewelry online?

Solving a problem in an area that you’re specialized in is way easier than writing a blog post. Right? **smiling**

 14.  Question a Convention

How about you bust blogger’s block by questioning a convention. Turning something over on it’s head.

If everyone says, “Go for it”, how about you say, “Don’t”. But remember, you will need reasons to flip things over. So, if you have a few good reasons, go ahead, crush that blogging block and question a convention.

15. Get Help

Finally, let’s face it. As business owners, managing everything on your own, sometimes your blogger’s block is not really a creativity block. It is a time management block. You may not have the time for it. You really and truly may not want to write the posts. Writing it may take tons of time that you could easily spend doing other business tasks, like product creation or marketing, that would give you greater joy. When that is the case, it is time to call in the troops and get help.

What are YOU struggling with when it comes to your blog? Share with me in the comments and let’s crush it together.