Yesterday’s post about outsourcing was directly related to the struggles I am having developing content for my new website. Today, I have a little twist on the same theme…how to overcome writer’s block.
My efforts to write the intro page for the new site were being met with massive writer’s block. Honestly, I can barely call it writer’s block since I’m barely a writer. Let’s just say I was getting nothing accomplished. Worse still, I’m feeling stressed because I won phone consultation time with Rosalind Gardner and I want her to review this site. What to do?

To overcome my writer’s block, I decided to change topics. I had a list of subjects I wanted to cover on the website, and each topic was easily a page by itself. Since I couldn’t get in a groove on the opening, I decided to try one of the detail topics.

Lo and behold, the words started flowing…and flowing…and flowing. I was amazed. I could have easily written 3 times that amount, but I had to stop somewhere. So what happened?

There were two key factors in the the burst of productivity: I picked a topic I was more comfortable with, and I was telling a story. I knew the storyline and the facts intimately, because the story was from personal experience.

Pretty easy, right?

If writer’s block has you stalled, try these simple things:

• Change topics - Even if you must write on the difficult topic, writing first about a subject your are more comfortable with can get the creative engines started
• Tell a personal story - Making a point by drawing on personal experience is easy because you lived the story, and it’s powerful because your experience lends credibility.

You’ll be amazed at the results.

Image by Justin Russell