by I can attest that every blogger has gone through roller coaster of emotions during their blogging journey. Whoever told you that blogging is easy was lying to you.
You start out your blog with so much enthusiasm you feel like you’re unstoppable from reaching your goals of earning so much money because you’ve read from one guru that they’re racking up an astonishing 10000 dollars from their blog.
If they did it so can I right!
That is until you check your stats and see discouragingly low traffic… a measly number with a high bounce rate.
At first you didn’t budge. But then the numbers are still not getting better.
You start to think that nothing is working and you start to question if blogging is the right fit for you.
You then suddenly lose your momentum and you’re finding it difficult to come up with something to write about. There you are, you’ve hit against that brick wall called writer‘s block.
Writer’s Block
Writer’s block is absolutely no joke. Not only does it kill your motivation, but it can also kill the entirety of your blog.
Writer’s block might be caused by a plethora of things such as fear of failure, procrastination and feeling demotivated.
Some people might even argue that perfectionism is not a part of the equation, but the truth of the matter is, you procrastinate because you fear failure.
When you get things done but they’re not up to par to your incredibly unattainable self-imposed standards, it’s either you spend an ungodly amount of hours in you drafts to edit… or you don’t start at all. After all, our harshest critic can be ourselves.
Everyone experiences writer’s block at least once in their lives and it’s completely understandable for bloggers to lose their momentum for a short period of time. The problem, however, is when it becomes a prolonged situation that it gets more difficult to get your groove back.
Don’t let it become an endless loop of feeling lost and demotivated and not being able to accomplish anything.
If there’s a way to overcome this, it’s the mantra of “JUST DO IT!”, as Nike brilliantly and succinctly puts it.
Just do it!
Never wait for motivation, it might never come. If you wait for motivation before you actually do something, you’ll end up not doing anything.
Just write for the heck of it!
Some gurus would advice that you have to strategically research on keywords in order to make the most out of your blog post. While this is a sound advice to follow if you want to gain more exposure from SEO and SERPS, this might be counterproductive if you’re in the midst of a writer’s block.
Why?
Some beginners might get discouraged to put anything out there for fear that it’s never gonna be on par with the top content of authority sites.
Keyword research can get confusing and daunting too if they don’t know the basics of it. Thus, it will perpetuate into this negative spiral that no matter the keyword research, your posts are always going to get lost in the sea of competition.
Keyword research is a very powerful strategy if you know what you’re doing. But if you’re just starting out, you might get overwhelmed with the “complexities” of it all and you might get discouraged to try the TRIAL and ERROR method.
Of course, I’m not saying that beginners or even experienced bloggers should just forget about the keyword research method altogether. But in order for them to overcome the writer’s block, it won’t hurt for them to just simply write anything that pops in your mind.
That’s right! Just write anything that comes into your mind. You don’t have to do keyword research all the time!
Don’t get me wrong, keyword research works wonders! But it’s okay not to do it all the time.
It doesn’t matter if some ideas sound ridiculous, or too trivial, or too boring. What’s important is to get your creative juices flowing so you’d potentially have choices from which you could jumpstart your next blog post on.
Always bring a pen and a notepad with you. Sometimes, the most brilliant of ideas come at the most random of times at the most unlikely places. Whether you’re in your daily commute, or if you’re at a coffee shop, you’ll never know when the next great blog post will pop in your mind. It’s best to always have a pen and paper so you won’t forget about it.
Jot those down and at the end of the day, review those words and pick out some interesting ideas that you could possibly flesh out in your next blog post.
Make a structure
Blogging can be overwhelming from the get-go. And despite the JUST DO IT mantra, we still find ourselves staring at a blank document, not knowing where to start.
People in the midst of a writer’s block are, most often than they realise, ridden with guilt. Case in point, if they don’t do anything, they feel like they’re wasting time. But if they force themselves to do something only to find themselves staring at a blank document, then feel like they’re once again wasting their time. See how it becomes an endless loop they can’t win?
In order to overcome this, it’s imperative to make a structure for you to follow through.
A structure is akin to the architectural blueprint of a house. It’s important for a civil engineer or an architect to plan and build the foundation of the house first before they could start moving on to interior designing. Without a strong foundation, the house would collapse.
It’s the same with writing and blogging. You’ll need a blueprint or an outline to guide you through the writing process.
An outline should include the title of the blog post, the purpose or motivation of the blog post, the target audience, and in some cases, the learnings or takeaways of the audiences.
But then again, it all comes back to….
What if I run out of blog post ideas?
There are several websites out there that could help you generate your next blog post idea in just seconds, for FREE!
- Hubspot’s Blog Topic Generator
- WebFx
- SeoPressor
- Portent’s Content Generator
- ContentRow’s Headline Generator
- ArticleGenerator
Follow a strict writing schedule
Structure doesn’t only pertain to the elements of writing itself. But it can also pertain to your habits as a writer.
Most bloggers tend to think that since they’re working on their own, without a boss, they can do whatever they want on their own terms. But the thing is, if you don’t follow a strict writing schedule, the easier it will be for you to procrastinate.
What you need is a consistent writing schedule that you’re sure to follow no matter what happens.
Allot yourself a writing schedule that would allow you to work on your own without no one interrupting you. It doesn’t matter if it’s during the wee hours of the morning, or midnight, or every after your brunch; the most important thing is for you to follow it consistently.
Give yourself a specific deadline.
Sometimes, what you need is a constant PUSH so it later becomes a habit. Treat of it as a full time job that is absolutely indispensable.
Ask your readers for a blog topic idea
Another reason for a writer’s block is lack of validation and interaction from their readers. A lot of bloggers give up because they think that they’re speaking into the void.
It shouldn’t be the case at all. All you have to do is reach out.
One of the best ways to generate your next blog post topic is by asking your readers.
Not only does it encourage engagement, but it also proves that you listen and value your readers’ suggestions, points of views and opinions. It’s a great way to build rapport with your audiences while keeping them hooked and loyal.
Ask them if they have a topic that they’d want you to expound further as it could potentially solve a problem point; or ask them if they want an expert advice on a topic; or if they want to share their experiences and general insights.
You could also survey your readers about certain topics that they might be interested in via email or through social media.
Some of your readers might be bloggers themselves and for them to contribute on your blog, it will also be a great way for them to gain exposure for their website as well. See our post on “Zero Traffic? Here’s how to get Real Visitors for your New Blog.”
Answer the most popular questions from Quora, Reddit, Forums and Facebook Groups
Social media is where the traffic is and what better way to look for a topic than to research on what’s currently being discussed on those social media sites.
Search for facebook groups, reddit subtopics, Quora questions and forums related to your niche, then look for hot topics with the most number of threads, replies, comments and engagements. This means that there’s generally a high level of interest about those topics and you can be sure that a blog post expounding on those would generate high traffic too.
You could post to those communities that you have a blog related to their niche; but always keep in mind that self-promotion could get you banned so it’s important to read on their rules beforehand.
Reread old content and pick out a subtopic that you could expound on
Most of the time, some of our old blog posts just fade away into the oblivion especially if they haven’t gotten the traction from audiences. We write it. Then we just forget about it.
What you don’t know is that your previous blog posts can be a gold mine and you might not even be aware of it.
A blog post not getting enough traffic does not mean that your content is irrelevant. Sometimes, it just means that you’re targeting the wrong keyword or that the competition for that topic is too high. But it doesn’t mean that that is all there was to that blog post.
It’s always best to reread your old blog posts and check for highly valuable subtopics that you could further expound on. Subtopics could vary from tutorials, to a comprehensive guide, to a simple explanatory post.
By doing this, you’ll be able to increase your inbound links as your old topic will be connected to your subtopic as well.
To sum it up, a writer’s block is only a temporary hurdle that is not impossible to overcome. And always, remember, Done is always better than perfect! Just keep on going!
