8 Tips To Prevent Writer’s Block – Exercise Your Writing Muscles To Become A Powerhouse Writer

This is a guest post by Adrian from http://adrianwhittle.com

If you have any aspirations to make money online or start a successful career as an internet marketer, there is one skill that is a must have. You must be able to write.

Writing will probably play some part in everything you do from writing advertising copy, sales copy, promotional articles, email auto-responder series through to communicating with outsource workers or potential joint venture partners.

So what happens when you can’t seem to string more than two sentences or you have the dreaded writers block.

Here are 8 tips that may help you start writing or keep writing if you struggle to finish. 

Don’t Let Your Writing Skills Gather Dust!

Since you have probably already wasted time staring blankly at your screen before looking for a solution, why waste even more?  So let’s go ahead and dive right in.

1. Setting

Setting is actually very important.  Believe it or not, where you write can actually determine what you write and if you even write at all.

So first up, you want to make sure that your writing spot is free from distractions.  So you want the TV and the radio off and let your phone go to voice mail.

If you are living or working with someone, as much as possible, you want to write in a separate room.  So get your cup of joe ready and shut the door.  Aside from that, you want to make sure that your work space is also clutter free.  You will actually be amazed at the difference this makes.

2. Stick To A Schedule

Keeping a writing schedule is actually a big help.  Since most people tend to multi-task, having a specific time for writing that is ONLY for writing will actually help you to focus on what has to be done.

Working at night is actually ideal since there is generally less to do than there is during the regular waking hours.  But if you aren’t used to staying up all night, then writing in the early morning is a great alternative.  As long as you are not groggy, your energy will be fresh and you mind will be free of other short-term memories of other tasks.

3. Take A Break

Another reason people experience writer’s block is that they are just simply burned out.  So if you have been writing for hours, it is actually a good idea to take a short break – but not too long to the point that you are actually procrastinating.

A 15 minute breather should be just right.  You do not even have to leave the room.  You can just lean back, close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths.  You can even stretch your arms and your legs a bit to feel refreshed.  Chanting and meditating are not the only ways to clear your mind after all.  So there really is no need to sit cross-legged and go “ohmmmm…”.

4. Work Indirectly

If you have stared blankly at your screen and just can’t get around to writing, you can actually work on your project indirectly.

When you have no idea on what to write and where to begin, you can always try some other exercises that will lead you to writing your content.  You can try mind mapping, word association, and outlining.

Even just doodling on a pad for a while is supposed to help the creative juices flow and lead to some productive brain storming.

5. Draft Quickly, Revise Slowly

When you are having trouble starting to compose, you can always follow this golden rule of sorts – Draft quickly, revise slowly.

Studies have shown that writer’s block can actually take place when you begin to evaluate and go over every word that you put down.

So, to keep this from happening, you should keep your writing and your editing separate.  So once you have your draft, as much as possible, stick to it while writing.  You can always go over everything when done.

6. Turning To The Net

Another way around writer’s block is to actually turn to the world-wide web for some inspiration.  There are tons of article hubs that can help you out.  EzineArticles is one of the biggest.  You will find information on just about any and every topic.

So if you need a little help, you can always just type in the keyword and an entire list of articles will be yours to look through.  Remember though that this is just supposed to give you an idea of what you should write.  Do not, by any means, just copy and rehash what someone else has written.  You want your work to be YOURS after all, right?

7. Motivation

One thing that you can do to get yourself to write is to get yourself in the mood to write.  You need motivation.  What better way to bring that about than to remind yourself of your goals.  Whether you are writing for school, for your personal blog, or if it is for work, just keep in mind why you are doing this and what you will get when you are done with it.

8. Just Write

But even with all of these tips and tricks, the bottom line is that all you can really do is to just sit down and force yourself to write.  Do not leave until you have done some writing. Writing is like anything that you do, the more you do it the easier it will get.

Many people complain of writers block but the real issue is that they write too infrequently. Even a few sentences each day can keep you in the writing groove. Write often for a month or so and you’ll find it easy to write and writers block is less likely to strike.