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10 Titillating Tips For Struggling Bloggers

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For Struggling Bloggers

I sat down at the antique desk in absolute agony, my groin screaming. My jaw was clenched tight as a drum. My fingers were curled as if I was shot with a poisoned dart, hovering over the keyboard. For a brief moment I looked like a 17th century composer gone mad with delirium. I slammed my bony fingers onto the Macbook and willed them to move.

Slowly, like a baby caterpillar struggling to escape its pupae, words appeared. My jaw relaxed, releasing the built up tension in my neck and spine. A small smirk spread slowly across my countenance. My fingers flew like leaves in a hurricane. Momentum began to unravel the resistance from mere minutes previous.

I was writing. HA-HA! Bite me you drunken leprechaun.

Does it really have to be such a struggle to write?

I’ve been writing since 1994. Not every day. There were a few years when I never scratched a single word on the back of a napkin. But after nearly 2 decades of pounding the keys, I’ve learned a few tricks that help me to get rolling when it’s time to write. And to keep me from going mad.

10 Ways To Trick Yourself Into Writing.

1. Determine Your Peak Time

Are you a morning writer, or an evening writer? Me? I am definitely morning, the earlier the better. My iPhone goes off with its vibrating alarm at 5:55 am 6 days a week. Listen to your body! Of course it’s going to whine and complain first thing in the morning. Disregard that voice and search for your inner writer. What’s it saying?

Can you produce 1000 words at 10 pm, or 6 am?

2. Use Your Toes

I generally wear slippers when I write. Partially because it’s chilly first thing in the morning, and I write in my basement office. But mainly because of my toes. When I get stuck on a paragraph, I kick off my slippers and curl my toes into the carpet. I rub them quickly back and forth to make some friction on the soles of my feet. It wakes me up a bit. I can’t seem to write in socks nearly as easily. It affects my flow.

Don’t judge me, writers are weird.

3. Beverage of Choice?

I always have a cup of coffee or peppermint tea within reach when I write. What’s your beverage of choice? The extra fluid intake forces me to pee every 45 minutes or so. That gets me up from the keyboard and forces me to take a break. It refreshes my poor brain and central nervous system which is doing the heavy lifting.

4. Music or Silence?

I used to play Linkin Park and 80’s hair metal in the background when I wrote. It negatively affected my productivity. My subconscious started to listen for lyrics, and to sing along instead of doing the bulk of the writing. Nowadays I write in either silence or with sounds of nature as ambient noise. I found iTunes radio stations still had commercial breaks even when it was supposed to be commercial free.

What music works best for you?

5. Home or Coffee Shop?

This one is tricky. Even with headphones I find writing at a coffee shop has too much external stimulation and distraction. I can write 500 word ezine articles no problem at a McDonalds. But creating good meaty content I save for the early morning at home with minimal distraction. Maybe it’s because I’m heading into middle age but I can’t seem to create art when a 5 year old punches his baby brother in the ball pit at Mickie Dees and screams for the next 8 minutes.

6. Paper or Plastic?

Years ago when you went into a grocery store the clerk would ask you if you wanted plastic bags or paper bags for carrying out your purchases. Nowadays where I live they treat you like an environmental terrorist if you buy a plastic grocery bag for a nickel. They expect you to bring your own canvas bag made from locally-grown natural fibres that you weave at home on your own loom. Some writers look at anything except a shiny Macbook Air still under warranty as Old School writing. I do some of my best work with a pen and an old Moleskine knockoff from Walmart.

Can you create with a pen and paper, or are you a keyboard warrior? Have you tried?

7. Is Wi-Fi Your Friend?

I turn my wi-fi off when I write. I usually use Evernote on my laptop when I get into creating. With no wi-fi I have no interruptions from Skype, IM, G+, Twitter, or push notifications from the myriad of apps I have. When I have to pee because of the steady intake of fluids, I fire up the wi-fi to sync my notes in Evernote. When I sit back down, wifi goes back off. It’s a little ritual I have to reset my brain each hour to keep writing.

8. The First Sentence Is Like A Shout In A Crowded Bar

Staring at a blank page is a recipe for resistance. I write an opening sentence like I was shouting at a couple of friends of mine across a British pub common room. “Hey Chester, I sat down to write in absolute agony!” My goal is to get Chester to shrug like a “what did he just say?” kind of face and saunter over to hear the next line of the story. If I can write one sentence, I can generally write a second. Before I glance around I’m into a paragraph and we’re moving. Get good at writing opening sentences. I have a page of them in my Moleskine.

9. A Man’s Gotta Know His Limitations

Mine’s about 2800 words. Roughly 3 hours straight of work, sometimes 3 and a half. With 2-3 bathroom breaks in there. My first clue is I lose my sense of spelling. Homonyms become the enemy. Horse? Hoarse? And I lose the ability to conjugate verbs in the future tense. It’s a sign that I need to sync my work in Evernote and eat something resembling food.

10. Kick The Critic In The Balls

My inner critic has an Irish accent and points and laughs at me in a voice similar to a drunken leprechaun. He constantly screams that my work stinks like shiiite and I just wasted 3 hours and that I’m going to starve and end up like drunk Uncle Wilbur. I’ve learned to love the little jerk. What does your inner critic say to you? What effect does it have on your work?

Steve Jobs once said that true artists ship. Seth Godin constantly pushes Publish. I’ve discovered that your best work is still inside you, waiting to get out. Strengthen your opinions, be bold in your blogging, step on some toes, and let your art see the light of day.

I’m out of coffee, I have to pee, and this post is finished. Go write something.

David Ledoux is the author of half a dozen books including How I Went From Welfare To Millionaire Without Winning The Lottery. He coaches entrepreneurs, owns several businesses and writes a witty and irreverent blog at http://davidledoux.com. His newest book, 10 Quick & Easy Strategies For Successful Living is available for free at his website.

About

Dave B. Ledoux is an early Internet pioneer. He has been building websites and making money online since 1994. He enjoys travelling with his wife, golf, paintball and World of Warcraft. Now semi-retired he spends his days helping his friends with their websites. He writes a witty and occasionally sardonic blog at David Ledoux Dot Com blog.

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{ 24 Responses }

  1. Danijela says:
    Hello Dave, this is one interesting article, I really like it. Thanks for sharing your small secrets, you have some really useful ideas here. :)
  2. TheGreenovator says:
    The one thing I hate about commenting on blogs like yours is it takes away from my link building because of all the good information I find and must read. GRRRR.. Ill be back to read more of your blog…that’s for sure. Thanks a bunch. It's always nice to learn something new.
  3. David Walters says:
    Very entertaining and informative article, although my favorite tip you mentioned but didn't list was the resembling a composer mad with delirium, why not get into character when you write, or if you have a hard time acting you can just use the delirium part that should help with the acting mad part. But my only real suggestion would be to record any ideas. By record ideas I mean sometimes I'll be out with no paper or laptop, and I'll think of a great topic to write about, so I'll pull out my trusty Iphone and regurgitate my idea using voice memos, or email a note to myself. I find this helps me free up some valuable brain processing power when it's time to write. Thanks for the enjoyable read!
  4. Jeevan Jacob John says:
    The only thing that affects me here is the point about first sentence. Others are no problem for me :D Once I start writing, I will just be writing the post. Another thing that I stumble upon is on the idea itself. I have had several times in which I write 2-3 paragraphs and then delete the post, because I realized that there is not much value I can provide through that article (I always prefer to publish articles that I think has at least one new technique/idea that I haven't read anywhere else). Thanks for sharing your writing experience with us, David! Jeevan Jacob John
  5. David Ledoux says:
    You are too kind. I just checked Google Analytics. My sexiest visitors this week to my blog came from this FamousBloggers.net. Thanks for the Twitter love!
    • Hesham Zebida says:
      That's what I like to hear David, Thanks for the awesome post, you've added value indeed and I hope many readers enjoy it like I did! I appreciate your kind words.
  6. Holly Jahangiri says:
    Your Muse and my inner critic, Edna, ought to get together. See http://www.scribd.com/doc/15201079/Eradicating-Edna - actually, my Muse is a lot like that, too, only it's an angry dust bunny named Prunebutt. The link below is for my young blogger friend, Abhi, who is now back in my good graces after waking me at some ungodly hour of the morning (I get notifications on my phone - I really need to turn those off) to send me over to read this post. You had me at "piss off you drunk leprechaun" and Abhi is forgiven, so in return for the laughs, would you go read and give him some feedback on his post, below? I need to go employ these tactics. I like the implied one of writing at the pub.
  7. Abhi Balani says:
    Awesomely interesting. Timing: I never thought, the time at which I write can also effect my writing. Very true, I cannot write a good article at midnight. Toes: LOL, Really, I do the same, in addition I use to stretch my body and change my position. Don't know why and how, but it works. And I prefer silence, cannot work, concentrate in noise. About pen-paper or keyboard, I'd say both. Not every time, but I use to right the main points on paper which I wish to include in my article. And writing the first line is very difficult for me, sometimes. I feel confused where and how to start. Although, I don't stuck but it takes a little time. Really, the post was thoroughly interesting. I don't know when I'll start speaking like this in my articles. I'd be so grateful if you'd read the post linked below and, if you enjoyed it, leave a comment to let me know!
    • Holly Jahangiri says:
      Oh, Abhi, this post was definitely worth waking up at oh-dark-omigod for. You were right to recommend it to me. I rarely suffer from writer's block - or, rather, I refuse to call it anything but what it is: "Excuses, excuses, excuses." As Tom Lehrer once said (and I paraphrase, since it's from memory): "All these people bemoaning the fact that they can't communicate - I feel that the very least one can do, if he can't communicate, is to SHUT UP." Well. Writer's block is fear of inadequacy, isn't it? Fear that our inner critic (or worse, the real ones out there) will throw rotten fruit. Oh well... A poor writer's gotta eat.
      • Abhi Balani says:
        aah... I know, you cannot suffer from writer's block, even rarely. And yeah, they are excuses but they are a part of our lives, aren't they? LOL
        • Holly Jahangiri says:
          No, I'm never at a loss for words. Occasionally, I avoid the writing I ought to be doing and write a lot of stuff to keep the Muse from biting me on the behind. Writing can be its own form of procrastination, but writing to procrastinate and put off OTHER writing? That's just kind of weird, isn't it?
  8. Kimberly Gauthier says:
    Love this list. I don't listen to music, I have the television on as background noise. Whenever I work in complete silence, I get distracted - go figure. I carry around a journal for note taking - fits in my purse and whenever an idea pops up, I write it down.
  9. Doug Gene says:
    Thanks for sharing your tips. I think turning off my WiFi is the route I need to go. I am way too easily distracted. Working in hour blocks really helps me focus though.
  10. Tushar says:
    Stay away from social media sites..FB is so addictive that it eats up a lot of time of mine and blogging sometimes takes a back seat. So for struggling bloggers, FB is a big No-No
  11. Gina says:
    Thanks for posting this. I made a goal this year to become more serious about my blog. So far, I have written a new blog post everyday since the new year.
  12. Jamie Northrup says:
    Nice post Dave, not sure if anyone wants to know, but I wrote them down for myself, so I figured I would share it ;) 1. 8-11 AM is the peak working time for me, also 3:30-4:30 is good because I rush a lot to get things done before I leave. 2. I need to be fully dressed to write, or else I feel lazy and wonder off on the WWW. 3. AM is Tim Hortons Ice Cap and PM is Coke 4. Music, anything with a good beat and loud bass, usually hip hop, sometimes club music on days when I need more motivating 5. Home, or in the summer by the water. When I travel I get a lot of work done if I'm in a train or plane, would love to take a cruise just to work/write. 6. I don't resort to pen and paper as often as before, but I will draw my mind maps on them 7. Wifi always on for me 8. I usually create a bunch of headlines and bullet points and go from there 9. I don't know what my limits are, but I usually limit myself to writing a couple hours a day, I would guesstimate about 1500-2000 words 10. My inner voice says, don't quit, don't overthink, just do it!
  13. Dave Lucas says:
    HaHaHa! #10 is my favourite - and folks, with Mr. Dave's permission, feel free to add # 11 to this fine list: the names of your usual suspects (the blogging gurus collective) who always strive to make you believe you need an eBook or a $9 PDF to blog better... BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!
  14. abhiz says:
    All are important to me, point 7 is awesome its contains the the sharing benefits
  15. Lisa says:
    #1 and #7 are very important to me; I 'm a morning person so I try to blog only in the a.m. and if I do at night I usually save the publish button for the a.m. I have to turn off all internet connection or I'll get Twitter or FB updates and want to check them out!
  16. Dean Saliba says:
    I found the same when I listened to music, I'd spend more time singing along then writing, I tried listening to talk radio while writing but found that I just spent the time arguing with the people who phoned into the station to take part in debates! I think one thing that is important is to have a routine. I never had one and I made a point of putting one together last wek and so far I have seen my productivity soar. Make sure you include plenty of breaks in it. :)
  17. Adrian says:
    Those Tips are much useful in Practical life, and The idea of the Coffee was much realistic. In fact whenever I hold my Coffee Mug , I get certain interesting concepts to write about. Anyways back to my point, I usually think about the Peak time by checking the Google Analytic time period report and thus I get to know about the time in which major group of people come to my Blog. Still there are some tips from your Post, which I need to implement practically.
  18. Shamelle says:
    The are small but significant things that we can do to make blogging life a tad bit easier. We barely give any thought! Useful post
  19. Mommy K says:
    This is actually very helpful to me. I am just starting out and trying to figure everything out. So thank you
  20. Danielle McGaw says:
    Wow - this is one of the best posts that I have read in a long time. I love it! Not only are you funny but you've got some great thoughtful points in here. I especially loved your last point. That critic can be a real biotch and a lot of the time it is better to just lock them out of the room. Let them back in when it is time to do their job. I actually learned that years ago from Natalie Goldberg!