BLOGGING ARTICLES

Writer’s block is commonly regarded as the main reason why creative writers don’t write as often, as deeply and as abundantly as they’re truly capable of.

It’s a phrase that for writers is greeted with the same dread as a 9 year old boy feels when told “Your Great Aunt Mabel’s coming to stay this weekend, and you know she’ll want to give you a big kiss and a cuddle.”

But whilst young Jimmy has to pretty much grin and bear that wet smacker from his Aunty, there’s plenty we can do as creative writers to avoid and severely reduce the effects of writer’s block.

The biggest step in this - and the most powerful reason why we have writer’s block in the first place - is all about what we believe.

The way our minds work is to give energy and importance to what we focus on, what’s most in our thoughts.

If you’re anxious before an exam, an interview, or a visit to the doctor, and some well meaning friend says: “Whatever you do, don’t worry…”, what effect does this have?

Yep, it causes you to worry MORE. Our mind can’t really focus on the “don’t”, all it hears is the key word in the sentence - “worry”. So that’s what it focuses on.

Much like if I say to you now: “Try not to think of blue dog on a bicycle”, what is it your mind will immediately focus on? That’s right, Fido the blue two wheeled wonder dog…

So naturally this exact same principle applies to your creative writing and your attitude towards writer’s block.

If you’re always thinking “I’m not going to get writer’s block, I’m not going to find it difficult to write, I’m not going to struggle to have ideas…” then the message getting through is: “writer’s block… difficult to write… struggle to have ideas…”

So what’s the solution? How can you NOT think of suffering writer’s block, without thinking of suffering from writer’s block?

The answer is to REPLACE the negative words with more positive and helpful alternatives. So instead of thinking “I’ll run out of creative ideas”, as soon as you notice this thought appear, replace it with something like “I find it easy to have all the creative ideas I ever need.”

When you catch yourself thinking “I’m determined not to get writer’s block”, instead turn it around to “I write freely and easily”…

Try this from today, stick to it, and within a week you’ll notice the difference in your attitude to creative writing and (I’ll whisper so you don’t hear this and start thinking about it again) writer’s block…

One things writers agree on is that writer’s block help is always appreciated. No matter how great you are as a writer, there are times when the words just do not flow as freely or fluidly as you might like. The great hope is that you never experience a crippling form of writer’s block but there are differences not only in severity but also in duration. This is something that most writer’s prefer be cured sooner rather than later.

What Exactly is Writer’s Block?

Writers block is a term that is used to define an inability to express a thought or idea on paper. For someone who makes his or her living with words, this can be a frustrating experience in the short term. Any writer that has spent more than a day or two struggling with this malady will gladly tell you that it can be an extremely frightening to find yourself in need of writers block help.

Treatment Options for Writers Block Help

There are as many so called treatments for writing snags and blocks as there are writers out there willing to try them. Unfortunately, few of them work well and fewer still are guaranteed to deliver rapid writing results. Some of the more common and commonly effective (though none have been found that work for every writer, every time) treatments for writer’s block include the following:

Time

The wait and see method is the most often recommended and far least preferred method of getting writers block help. Writing is in the blood of most writers. Being unable to write all of the sudden for them would be like a musician suddenly robbed of an instrument or the tools required to play his or her instrument of choice. The time method works by simply walking away and trying something else for a half hour and then coming back ready to begin writing - in theory.

Free Writing

This technique involves basically writing nonsense for a certain period of time -generally five to ten minutes. How it works is you take a piece of paper and write everything that comes to mind for a specified amount of time. Non-sense, song lyrics, nursery rhymes, or even a grocery list can help.

Just write whatever pops into your head and do not stop until the timer goes off. There are some who say it offers no writers block help at all while others swear by it. If you are desperate, it’s certainly worth a try.

Self Hypnosis

This method involves learning to enter into a state of relaxation that bridges the gap between your mind and your fingertips. Those words that are just beyond your grasp are suddenly made accessible because you are using an underutilized part of your brain as part of your writing routine. There are few methods of writers block help that can surpass this method when it comes to success.

Making the Move

At the end of the day you, as the writer, are in control of this particular plot twist. Is the hapless heroine going to take the plunge and open her mind to possibilities or is she going to do the same thing that has been failing for so long? Writers block help is at your fingertips, are you going to get the help you need?

I am sure that if you are reading this article then you are currently writing articles to market your business. This is the number 1 rated method that I use to drive traffic to my website as this method converts the best of all the methods that I use.

However, there is only one thing stopping you from experiencing massive success with this powerful method of traffic generation and that is writer’s block. Ask yourself a very important question how many articles can you write in one day?

The bottom line with articles is that the greater the volume that you submit to the major directories the higher your number of subscribers and sales will be. For most people writing one a day is a lot of work. If you are aiming for five to ten a day that may be very ambitious. Now just think what will happen to your business if you were to write thirty a day.

The only thing basically stopping you from doing this is the dreaded writer’s block. After you have written a few you are going to be running out of ideas and will struggle to continue. I have often experienced this, but I know that the key to building a solid business is to write consistently.

The way that I overcome this is that I record any new ideas that I get electronically. So when I am about to start a new article I already have a lot of ideas that I can use. I am also constantly on the look out for new ideas in forums, the different categories of the article directories and also in Google.

Finally, if I am struggling to get my creative juices flowing I do the following. If I am in a quiet state I will put the stereo on or if I am in a noisy environment I will move to a quieter place. This alternative state usually will get the creative juices flowing again.

If you’ve been dreaming of writing a book or starting a newsletter or just getting your resume out there with a cover letter to try to snag some new writing assignments, then do it!

Take action!

You can talk about your project for years and never get any closer to accomplishing it if ALL you do is talk.

Plus, when you constantly discuss it with friends and family, without working on it, you can become overwhelmed with all the different suggestions and advice you get, and you won’t know where to start.

Today, if you’re feeling frustrated or overwhelmed, decide on some small action you can take toward your biggest goal.

If your dream is to write a book, then sit down and start on an outline, or just begin writing chapter 1.

If your dream is to create a newsletter for people who visit your blog or website on a regular basis, then decide what regular columns and topics you can cover in your newsletter and get that plan OUT of your head and onto paper or into a computer file.

If you want to write for magazines, start working on a query with an interesting article idea.

No matter what project you have been dreaming about, don’t even think about the entire project today.

Instead, decide on one small ACTION to take and then take it.

This way, you won’t get overwhelmed, which can lead to procrastination, which means you NEVER get the project even started, much less completed.

Try it!

In presenting this article about GFX Writer, a review of the graphics creation software program, I must first make an admission. I owned the product for a number of months before I ever installed it, and then it was an even longer time before I started using it. Like so many individuals who find themselves “graphics designed challenged”, I assumed that this graphics program was complicated, would be difficult to understand and even harder to use. To my pleasant surprise, when I finally made the attempt to use it, I found that quite the opposite is true.

GFX Writer is a complete software program for developing simple website design elements including webpage headers and footers, and product cover designs for ebooks, CD case covers, DVD box covers, 3-ring binder covers and more. For creating headers, the program allows users to use blank header graphics or to create new headers completely from scratch. The program basically takes you through a four-step process, which allows you to begin with a blank header, add text and formatting elements, choose colors and any text effects, then save your graphic and export it.

Before I began using GFX Writer, I was accustomed to using software that was difficult to use or didn’t provide me nearly the design variety or level of quality in results that I required. But, I have found GFX Writer extremely easy to use, surprisingly “fun”, and capable of producing results that are quite professional-looking. The other very important thing about this software is that it is specifically designed for people like me. If you are NOT a “graphics genius”, and you are “artistically challenged”, don’t own Photoshop, or don’t know what Photoshop is accept that people use it to make graphics with, then GFX Writer was designed for you.

GFX Writer is a Windows utility program, is completely compatible with Windows XP and Vista, and installs to your computer almost instantly. The program comes with very simple and easy-to-understand instructions, and after performing an initial 3 or 4 steps, I felt very comfortable with the software and soon found myself operating the program like a “pro”. And since beginning to use the program to create my graphics, I’ve never looked back.

GFX Writer comes with first-rate technical support (not that you’ll need it, but it’s always nice to know it’s there in case you have a question or run into some unforeseen problem) that offers prompt response, as well as upgrades to the software (”tweaks” and minor improvements, not feature additions) that are free.

So, if you find that you need graphics design help, but find the cost of hiring graphics professionals is out of reach, you may want to try GFX Writer. A review of the program and it’s features demonstrates that it’s simple to understand, easy to use and still gives you the professional graphics design results you need.

In this discussion let’s look at how we can generate pick 3 double combos. In this case though, we are going to use 5 numbers instead of 4 numbers and generate 20 double combination’s. You will get 3 out of 3 numbers right if all 3 winning numbers are drawn out of your 5 wheel numbers.

For this lotto wheel, you will select 5 numbers and then translate them to letters. In column 1 you will have the first number and translate that to letter A. In the second column you will have the second number and translate that to letter B. In the third column you will have the third number and translate that to letter C. In the fourth column you will have your fourth number and translate that to letter D. In the fifth column you will have your fifth number and translate that to letter E.

You next step is to write down your double combination’s. Using the letters, the combos will be as follows: ABB, ACC, ADD, AEE, BCC, BDD, BEE, CDD, CEE, DEE, BAA, CAA, DAA, EAA, CBB, DBB, EBB, DCC, ECC, EDD.

The next thing that you want to do is to make one more column and title that your final combination. I then translate these back to numbers. So for example, if I selected my 5 numbers to be: 2,5,4,7,8, then my final numbers would be as follows:
255, 244, 277, 288, 544, 577, 588, 477, 488, 788, 522, 422, 722, 822, 455, 755, 855, 744, 844 and 877.

Now that you have the 20 possible combination’s that are available, then you need to play all 20 for the best possibility to win.

All writers are creative types, with cluttered desks, and messy piles, right? To be a good writer, one lives on coffee and stale potato chips only coming up for air when the book’s done, right? Maybe. Or maybe we as writers have convinced ourselves that this is how a “real” writer acts.

Writers spend so much time trying to determine when they will be a “real” writer. Just like the stereotype that all accountants wear green eyeshades, the stereotypes about writers persist whether they are accurate or not.
RIGHT-BRAIN VS. LEFT-BRAIN
Writing is generally considered a creative “right-brain” activity. However, you don’t have to turn off the left-half of your brain to be a writer. The best writers learn the secrets of when to use their right-brain and when to use their left-brain.
The most successful writers realize that writing is a business, and just like any other business, a certain amount of organization and timeliness is required. The best writers can read their mood. On creative days, they crank out the pages to their novel. On left-brain days, they send out invoices, clean out their files, and clean off their desks.
MESSY VS. ORGANIZED
Certain personality types crave “messes.” The clutter makes them feel comfortable. But it also eats away at their writing time since they spend it searching through piles of papers and old half-eaten sandwiches.
The secret for the messy writer is to confine the messes to a “messy zone.” The messy zone is limited to one shelf in an office or the basket next to a reading chair. The mess is still there for the comfort factor, but it doesn’t take over.
PROCRASTINATOR
The procrastinating writer writes the book but never sends the manuscript. Their brilliant ideas pile up, but they never send a query. There’s always a better time…later. Unfortunately, the procrastinator never feels the joy of success.
The procrastinator needs rewards, and lots of them. By planning wonderful rewards for simple acts, the procrastinator realizes the best time to write isn’t later. It’s right now.
PERFECTIONIST
The perfectionist writes the book but never finishes it. They are constantly revising, editing and reworking. This time eater takes away the fun of writing. Since nothing is ever good enough, what’s the point of writing anything?
The perfectionist needs positive feedback and reinforcement. When they hear others say, “This is really good. You should submit it,” they can silence the inner critic that says, “You could make it sound better.”
What is a real writer? It’s actually anyone who puts words to paper and sends them out into the world. And while anyone can sit down with a word processor, only real writers overcome the personality traits that could sidetrack them.

So, the question is do I suffer from writer’s block? The answer is no, because I am not a writer, thus, impossible! I just suffer from non-writer’s block, nope, not that either. You see, I am an entrepreneur who writes about his knowledge, observations, education, research, innovations, thoughts, and various business, sports, hobbies, nonprofit, and philanthropy endeavors. The reality is that until I became a writer I had never really met any writers that I actually liked as a person. Today, I can no longer deny that I have become a writer and author, but I still don’t think of myself as one.

Luckily, I have changed my view of writers, yes, that means I like you as a person. As, I understand what they have to go through, the hard work involved, and the difficulty getting into and staying in the creative flow. There are many top psychologists, which write about the creative flow, and they also liken it to this mythical concept of writers block. I call it a myth because it doesn’t actually exist.

You see, no one is holding your hand preventing you from typing out a new article, or picking up a pen and writing down titles of future articles to write about. No one is stealing your writing utensil when you’re sketching out an outline of a potential work of writing. If someone tries to steal your pen, you can always stab their hand with it (just kidding). The reality is writer’s block is on your mind. Therefore, the only thing blocking you from writing is yourself.

The easiest way to overcome writer’s block is to deny its existence, and to just start writing anything. If you’re not in the mood for writing, or the words aren’t coming to you, then start writing down ideas for future articles to write about, or search around on the Internet for information, which you might include in those future articles to round out your perspective for the reader.

It is amazing to me as I read a Writer’s Digest each month that there are always articles on this concept of writers block. One of the things that I have found is that if you are writing a creative work, but you always try to get in that certain mood that you were in when your creative flow was going gangbusters, and you produced your best work, you’ll forever be searching for it and only develop bad habits as the future progresses. You shouldn’t try to put yourself in the perfect frame of mind to get started writing, rather, you just need to start writing anything, and eventually your mind will turn on when it’s ready.

Now, it is true that sometimes you’re going to have to force yourself to write even when you don’t want to, or you don’t feel you’re in the mood, or your brain is simply wiped out and tired. You must be very careful not to make it a chore, or something negative. You need to keep your writing on a positive note, but at the same time you cannot use such excuses as writer’s block to prevent you from doing what you must do. Please consider all this.

It’s important when you work with a professional writer that you can communicate and end up on the same page. That’s how you’ll get exactly what you envision with your writing projects. The writer you deal with should feel like an extension of your business; a virtual team member. If not, you might want to look for a new website content provider.

When you deal with a professional copywriter, they should be ready to ask and answer questions. Some of the questions they may ask you could include:

o What is your goal for your website?

If the writer knows what you want to accomplish, this can help them determine what type of call to action to include in the writing.

o Who is your target audience?

A writer should know what demographic they are writing for. If you have several demographics in mind you might choose to write more than one piece. Writing online content for the teen marketplace is very different than writing for businesses or for stay at home mothers.

o Where will the articles be posted?

If the writer can see the context of the work, they can learn more about you and your line of business. This can help them write according to the existing voice and style of your website when you are ordering more content to be integrated into an existing website. If your articles are being posted on your site they might be written differently than if they are on an article directory pointing to your site or a news service, etcetera. Seeing your existing keywords and your layout can help substantially.

Managing the Relationship with a Writer

In terms of managing a relationship with your writer, it’s important to discuss things such as deadlines, payment terms and payment methods. If you are working on a larger project together, you might consider interim discussions so you can see the project as it is coming together and reduce the risk of not hitting the mark by the deadline. You’ll also want to discuss how many rewrites or revisions are included in the pricing as well as discussion of future projects so the writer can help you with your business planning.

Having a communicative relationship with anyone you outsource work to is especially important when you’re dealing with someone through e-mail and not face to face where communication can be a less challenging.

When you decide to hire a professional writing company or individual copywriter to do business with it’s wise to deal with someone who you feel comfortable with, who responds promptly to your queries and who is receptive to learning about the big picture. The more the writer knows about your business and your goals, the more likely you are to get written content that will help you reach those goals.

Global warming, climate change, increased cost of living, the list goes on for reasons it would be beneficial to generate electricity at home to take the burden off environmentally unfriendly power plants and in the long run to save you money you would need to give to power companies to maintain our modern lifestyles we tend to take for granted. Can you generate power at home that is cost effective and environmentally friendly?

Many ill informed designs for generating power have appeared online in the last decade and all of them have proven to be hoaxes, ineffective theories or so expensive as to be worthless to the average home owner. However technology and the “green” industry has come a long way and with the buzz of renewable energy in an age of fear of dwindling power resources clever people have worked out ways to make home power generation an affordable option.

The main methods of doing this are not new, they involve primarily wind power and solar power which have been proven to work and implemented by governments and companies world wide as part of their renewable energy schemes and the same can be done in your own backyard if you are willing to do a few things yourself and put up a small initial investment that will generate electricity at home enough to cut your bills down so dramatically it will make you money in the long run and you will do your part to help the environment.

The trick is not just in the materials involved in the creation of energy but how they are applied through your home. To generate electricity at home you need to be able to store power, route power to the right places at the right times and is efficient with that power through the use of solar and wind powered devices.