Battling Writers Block While Maintaining Your Outdoor Blog

It happens to us all. Believe me. Many prolific writers tell you that you have to write, and write, and write until you just can’t write anymore, and then write some more. The truth is, a lot of people, including well known writers experience times of writers block. They fail to produce any sort of writing material. Each word hangs in the balance.

One of the things I have learned over the years from writing parenting blogs to co-authoring The Legend of Grey Ghost and Other Tales From the Maine Woods, is that there are times when words flow easily and naturally. It’s almost difficult to write all the words that come to mind quickly enough. Other days, well there is no doubt your creative well has run dry. You know for a fact there is nothing left in this world to write about.

Fortunately, there are ways to battle writers block head on.

Reread old articles
When the going gets tough, I personally go back to my old content and just read through them. This does a lot of things for me. First and foremost, it allows your brain a few minutes to relax as you read. But, what is interesting about reading your own stuff, is that you read it a bit differently than if someone else wrote it. You tend to be a bit more critical of your own work. Definitely more bias, but because you are self critiquing your old articles you begin to see where you could have explained something better. Well, this is your chance. Form a new blog post and say it better. Don’t forget to link back to your original article.

Read other articles
It doesn’t have to even be the same niche. Just make sure you are reading other people’s material. Prolific writers spend a great deal of time reading other people’s work. I am sure they enjoy reading, but it does allow you to see new angles on topics and it usually spawns new writing material. For example, I was reading another article this morning which gave me the idea to cover writers block. The article is What do I Write About? by Mark Schaefer of the blog Grow. Go give it a read. He covers:

1. Look to your peer groups. 2. Look in your comments. 3. Look in your key words. 4. Google it.

Read through your comments
Mark’s 2nd idea of looking in your comments has always been a relief for me personally. A lot of times when someone experiences writers block, they look inward and struggle with their own demons. Being able to let go, and look outward and read through what others are saying can really turn on a light upstairs. Sometimes others may raise a good point which gives you new ideas, or maybe people are asking questions. Who says you can’t answer questions. Let’s say you wrote about your hunting trip down South. You begin to get a lot of questions as to what rifle you used to shoot that big buck which you originally failed to mention. Or maybe you left out some other detail. Sure you can answer in the comments section or form an entirely new article re-addressing and summarizing your hunting trip South and discussing the detail(s) that were originally not mentioned. Of course, link back to the first article. And go back to the old article, edit it, and add a new link at the bottom to your new article. State that you have expounded on it.

Exercise
Huh? That’s write. Exercise. I have found that when I am exercising, I have time to think. Many of my ideas for writing come when I am out on a walk or short jog. Before you begin, ask yourself what you could write about. As you begin to exercise your brain will begin to shuffle through possibilities and as you will soon find, there are no limits. But what is even better, is exercising releases chemicals called endorphins. These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine. For example, the feeling that follows a run or workout is often described as “euphoric.” That feeling, known as a “runner’s high,” can be accompanied by a positive and energizing outlook on life. Since endorphins stimulate the brain, we begin to experience all kinds of effects, one of them being increased creativity. This will give you an edge on your writing. So you can’t seem to think of what to write about next. Go for a nice walk. Think about writing, life, hunting, your family, and all sorts of things. You will soon find writing may come a bit easier.

Can you think of any other things that help with writers block? Let us know.