The Dos And Don’ts Of Dealing With Blogger’s Block

If you’ve been following my blog for the last few months, you’ll know I started experiencing blogger’s block.

I have a suspicion it happened because I’ve been blogging regularly for 8 years, I’m not writing any fictional books, which was always a source of inspiration for writing about writing, and I’ve spent over a year putting together two non-fiction books based on my blog posts.

When you’ve read, edited, made graphics for, and read again, 7 years’ worth of blogs, it’s easy to think you’re constantly rehashing the same information, and I believe it’s the strongest reason I developed my blogger’s block.

It’s not fun, and that’s what blogging used to be for me. Because that fun is something I want back, I’ve been looking for ways to deal with my blogger’s block, and these are the things that have helped.

The Dos And Don’ts Of Dealing With Blogger’s BlockDo Crunch The Numbers

If you suspect your blogger’s block is because you need to write regular posts for the foreseeable future, and the pressure of that endless deadline is causing your creativity to stall, this tip might seem odd, but there is comfort in knowing a number and having a plan.

For me, that plan is usually publishing three blogs a month. One is a Roundup Blog, but the other two are about writing.

When I started really feeling my blogger’s block at the start of this year, I dropped that number to two blogs a month: the Roundup and one blog about writing.

While I’m not going to stick to so few blogs forever, right now, planning for one new writing blog a month is less pressure, and it means I only need, at a minimum, eight writing blogs to finish up this year (May to December).

Eight blogs are doable, and crunching those numbers helped me see that, and also stopped my anxiety about having to write a lot of posts.

If you’d like the same peace of mind, try crunching your numbers and setting yourself a realistic goal of how many pieces of content you’ll need to write for the next few months. It might just be what will get your inspiration back.

Don’t Forget About What Works

Blogging is writing, so it makes sense that when you’re blocked for blogs, using tips to get you out a writer’s block should help too.

When I’ve been penning manuscripts and encountered writer’s block, it was usually due to not knowing where the story was going. For my blogger’s block, it seems to be coming up with fresh ideas that I’m actually excited to write.

When I write about a topic I’m interested in or experiences I’m experiencing (such as the topic of this post), I can write thousands of words. Taking an idea from my blog ideas folder (some of which are years old now) and trying to write about it just hasn’t been cutting it.

To get around this, I tried the writer’s block tricks I’ve used in the past to push through writing a WIP, and I found what helped the most was going into my writing bubble.

The Writing Bubble

I’ve talked about this technique before. All it involves is:

Headphones.A binaural beats app (I use Umm because it’s free, and it has a timer).Focus music from YouTube played on my phone to my headphones (also free and varied).

That timer in the app is helpful because I set it for 30 minutes or 1 hour, and then hit play on whatever Focus music takes my fancy on YouTube.

The timer helps bring the Pomodoro technique (breaking work tasks into timed intervals with short breaks in between) to my writing session, and using YouTube on my phone to play the Focus music means I can’t use my phone to look at social media, which is another win-win and a way I fight off procrastination.

These simple steps put me directly in a bubble made for writing, which means I actually write, hence I could pen this blog post!

Do Get Rid Of Deadlines

They help, they really do, but if they are making you stressed because you have to write your blogs by a certain point, try temporarily dropping the deadlines.

In April, even though I’d reduced my blog post target for the month, my upcoming book was with ARC readers, so I found myself with time to write and no project to work on.

Usually, this is when I draft and publish multiple blog posts. So, I tried to write a second blog for that month, and the blogger’s block reared its ugly head. This time, it also brought along a pressure-inducing deadline.

I couldn’t write anything good enough, and the deadline of getting a second blog out that month stressed me out. I didn’t want to publish a sub-par blog just to meet it, so I decided not to publish that second blog and used the time to research ideas, go through old blog notes, and see what shook loose without the pressure to publish anything.

I didn’t write anything decent for the first week, but by the second, with no deadlines, I wrote this post. Then I wrote another, and then notes for four others.

If deadlines or expectations are blocking your blogging, and you can temporarily drop the deadlines, try it. It might be exactly what you need to kick-start your content again.

Don’t Avoid Dealing With Outside Blocks

Sometimes we can’t write because of outside influences.

You could have something going on in your personal life, at work, or it could be the state of the world, or the state of publishing right now. Whatever it is, it’s giving why bother? vibes, and that can seep into your writing (whether you consciously know it or not) and block you.

Deal with it by dealing with whatever outside block is messing with you.

That may mean staying off/reducing social media, having a heart-to-heart with someone, taking time away from your job, or starting a journal to write your way through the outside blocks.

Journaling to get thoughts/worries out of your head is a worthy habit to start if you’re not already doing it, and leaves you with the mental space to do other writing. Try the practice for your blocks today, and see if it gets you back to your blogging best.

Do Give Yourself Permission To Write Junk

Similar to dropping deadlines to relieve some pressure, don’t go into your blog drafting with the expectation that what you’re writing will be a revelation, or even anything good. Just write.

Write about whatever comes into your head. Write badly if you have to, but just get going with no expectations and see where you end up.

You might have a badly written first draft, or you might have three half written drafts that make no sense, but writing those drafts, even if they’re crappy, has gotten you writing.

Your fingers are hitting the keys and it’s reminding your body what it feels like to write, and it’s getting the ideas and worlds flowing in your mind, even if they are terrible.

After that, when you have written what is truly junk, be happy! Instead of nothing, you now have something to edit. It may be a half-baked idea, and rambling sentences, and it may be the fifth post you’ve written about character flaws, but it’s something, and it gives you a place to start.

Don’t Write How You Always Write

If you always type, switch to writing by hand. If your blogging is always done at home, go to a cafe or library. Give yourself a different way and place to write from your usual method and see what happens.

Do Swap Writing With A Buddy

If you’ve convinced yourself that your blogs aren’t worth showing anyone, that’s going to mess with your head when it comes to publishing. After all, that’s showing it to everyone, and the fear of that is a big block.

To get around this, show your work to one person. Chances are, they’ll tell you it’s perfectly acceptable and the only reason you thought it wasn’t was your blogger’s block lying to you.

Another idea, and one that is good for getting out of a writing funk, is making a deal to swap it with a blogging buddy. Choose someone who also knows how hard it is when the words stop flowing, and give each other feedback.

Again, you’ll most likely find that what you’ve both written is perfectly publishable; you just need to get out of your own way to see it.

Don’t Complete Your Drafts

If by some miracle you churn out a blog post or two, stop mid-sentence, leave yourself a handover note, and come back to things the next day.

While you’ll probably want to stay on a roll if you’ve finally gotten on a roll, having a draft that you’re excited to keep working on will get you back at your desk the next day and help break your blogger’s block.

Do A Five-Minute Flow

If you’re a writer who procrastinates and convinces yourself that you have to do the washing or the cleaning, or repaint your living room before sitting down to write, get out of that habit now! Try writing anything first for five minutes.

Even if all you repeatedly write is, I’m a terrible writer, it gets your mind on writing. Once you’ve done that, keep writing your actual work and go with the flow of penning words.

After the five minutes are up, procrastinate if you still want to, but I’d like to bet that you’re more than happy to keep writing and finish that blog post instead.

And there you have the dos and don’ts that I’ve been using to deal with my blogger’s block. It’s not cured quite yet, but I have more blogs drafted now than I did a few weeks ago, and that’s an enormous relief, and a great place to start from to get my blogging back on track.

If you’re suffering from the same fate or having trouble with any type of writing, try these tips to see if they help you, too. I hope they do!

— K.M. Allan

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