Overcoming Writer’s Block
I’ve just read an interesting article on blogging. The author on the blog called The Qwertyrash Blogs has written a piece on Blogger’s Block. This is just a blogosphere term for the old fashioned “writer’s block.” (Update November 2013: The Qwertyrash Blogs no longer exist.)
He suggests that there are two distinct types of writer’s block.
1. Writer’s Block where you are “bereft of ideas.” He includes some useful hints on helping to overcome this malady, including carrying a notebook to jot down ideas.
I don’t so much suffer from writer’s block, but rather “writer’s forgettery” – so I have a pad of recycled paper (used stuff printed on one side only) and I immediately jot down ideas as they occur to me. That way I always have a list of topics to write about in my three blogs (see the Links section for my other blogs). I also have a file on my computer listing all the topics I could write about in the future. This is a long list. I don’t think I’ll run out of writing ideas for a few decades yet.
That reminds me of a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon I have somewhere in my files. Calvin looks extremely frazzled and the caption says, “God put me on Earth to achieve a certain number of things. Right now I’m so far behind I am going to live forever!”
2. Writer’s Glug is the lesser known form of writer’s block. I love that term. So descriptive! He says that writer’s glug is “where you have the ideas but writing feels like walking through deep mud – quite laborious.”
Yeah – like none of us know what that is like!
The article goes on to give some very useful hints on overcoming this particular problem. My solution is often to get out and go for a walk. It clears out the cobwebs. I also take my binoculars and go birdwatching. This will invariably give me something to write about in my birding blog!
What works for you?
I’d like to read the ideas of my readers. How do you overcome writer’s block?
Updated November 2013.
How to be a Freelance Writer
Here is another very useful article about being a freelance writer. It has lots of useful hints and suggestions. The article was written by Adelaide writer and blogger Shai Coggins.
Read the article here.
Hints for Freelance Writers
Let me get one thing straight – I have no plans to become a journalist.
But – I could be tempted to become a freelance writer. It’s a subtle difference, I know. I prefer fiction, poetry, writing for children and so, in one sense, I am something of a freelancer anyway. And now I’m into blogging in a big way, I probably qualify to be called a freelancer. I prefer the term writer; it covers every form of writing.
I recently read an interesting article about freelance writing. It had many useful hints for those starting out on the road towards being a freelance writer. The article is actually an excerpt from a new, about to be published, book called Get A Freelance Life by Margit Feury Ragland.
The article in question is an excerpt from chapter 2:
“Invest in Yourself: The bare necessities for a Successful Freelancer.”
Read the chapter by clicking here.
Publishing trends
It is fair to say that the publishing world is changing fast. Traditional forms of publication are disappearing and new forms are constantly being developed. In all this hype and change and hoopla the struggling writer can be left floundering in the backwash. What to do?
Most aspiring writers have always looked to the print media for publication. This has not changed all that much, of course. The discerning writer, however, realises that with all the changes occuring in the publishing world, the writer needs to change too. This brings me to an on-line article I recently read. The author suggests that writers shouldn’t bother submitting to print media and go to on-line media instead.
Read this interesting article for yourself:
Don’t Bother Writing for Print: Why you can make an easier living on-line by David S. Hirschman.