“Writing is not like sex; it’s only great when it’s all over!”

In this Article:

Writing Tips that Will Keep you Out of the Dark

Sure, lots of people have this romantic image of writers living a carefree and passionate life like Hemingway with all the travelling, drinking, and adventure. You may find a modern day writer at your local Starbucks chatting with the locals, sipping on a “strong” cup of American coffee (Ha, those Italians with their espresso got nothing on us!) and staring thoughtfully into space as they ponder the next brilliant sentence that will flow from their brain, to their fingers tips and onto their blank computer screen.

Ok, did you catch that last part? Blank Computer Screen – yikes!

Truth is, unless you get into some kind of “writer’s zone” writing can actually be pretty tough sometimes. And you do feel as if you are fumbling in the dark rather than skillfully maneuvering the terrain of wordsmith foreplay, even if you’ve done this “writing” thing a thousand times before!

You ask yourself, “Hey, I’m an adult, I should be able to nail this thing…so what the heck!”

This is exactly where I found myself recently and yes, it was extremely frustrating! I got writer’s block – BIG time – and all the normal “tricks” were just not working.

So what writing tips can I give to help you when you run into this wall? What writing tips did I use to push past the writing road block and finish the piece?

Did I “fake it”…until I made it?
Did I try a little harder?
Did I experiment with something new?
Did I “cheat” on my piece and start working on something else?
Did I decide to be celibate and avoid the computer altogether?
Or did I try to figure out what the big holdup was and deal with it?

Ok – confession time: I did a little bit of all of this!

Writing Tips that will Keep You Going

Before I tell you what finally worked for me, let me share 3 great writing tips that you should embrace in order to be consistent with writing in your business. Now, these may also work for fiction pieces, but since I write non-fiction I can only speak from my own experience.

Understand your Audience: Have your ideal reader/client in mind when you are writing. What are they like? What do they eat, where do they shop, do they have a family, what are their frustrations and fears, and what really turns them on? You’ve gotta understand who you’re writing for before you can do a really great job.

Do the Research: In this case I’m talking about keyword research and niche research. It’s still a staple when you are writing for your online business. But here’s what’s really important – don’t focus on the keywords and then build your content around it; focus on great content that has value and then embed your keywords into that content. If you’re doing this correctly, it will come very natural because you are writing from your passion first and editing in the staples later.

Write with a Purpose: If you don’t know why you are writing, then you really are just fumbling in the dark! For business purposes with a content marketing strategy, the best writing tips revolve around giving value as a way to direct your prospects into your sales funnel. I know, that doesn’t sound very sexy, but the end results sure are (a client!).

So Which Writing Tips Helped Me Out of My Funk?

First, I walked away from the project for a bit and actually created one complete and one almost complete draft of some mini books to be published in the next few weeks (ghostwritten by me for them).

Next, I walked and ran to get my body moving and allow my brain to “noodle” out the details of the project that was giving me problems.

Finally, I had a conversation with a friend about what was really holding me back.

I am passionate about my writing. I accept clients based on the challenge, the opportunity to learn about something new, and the subject matter. It’s got to excite me and interest me or I know that I won’t do the best job possible. This assignment had all that.

But the particular section I was working on had the potential to affect someone’s life. This could be good, or bad, and wrapped within it was the opportunity to boost someone’s self confidence and empower them to really love who they were, just as they were.

That part of it really made me want to get it perfect. It was exciting, yes. But it also carried an enormous responsibility as a writer. I wasn’t afraid of the responsibility. I believed that I could do the subject justice. But it did block me.

So, I pushed through and wrote a little bit every day in the morning. I edited a lot and threw out a lot too. But I finished. When I sent that section off to the client, they said 4 words that allowed me to easily breeze through the rest of the project, “Great Job…Keep Going!”

Yes, part of me wanted to stop and rest – it was taxing on the brain. But just as you would push through those last couple miles in a race I kept going and completed the rest within 48 hours.

Whew!

So, what you can take from these writing tips is to know that you will get writer’s block if you stick with it. It’s normal. But it doesn’t have to be the death of you.

So, unlike sex, writing is much better after it’s over. But just like sex, if you do it enough you will be well conditioned to have the skills last a lifetime! .