I was having writer’s block today, thinking of what to write. I get a lot of inspiration from reading, but today I just had massive writer’s block. This happens sometimes. Many hours went by and I took a look at my blog. It looked back at me. I was stumped.
I looked back at the archive and all the titles of the articles I’ve written since when I started. They reminded me of some of the struggles I faced when blogging. Some were minor, others were really frustrating. Some people may claim to have no problems when it comes to blogging. But I don’t think this happens to most people. Have you ever had days where you just struggled with blogging?
These days can include days where you take the extra amount of time to write a perfect paragraph. They can include days of submitting articles to article directories. They can include days of figuring out what to write to your audience. They can include days where you have no idea if your article is too long or too short, or days where you have no idea how to reply to comments that don’t make any grammatical sense. So the best thing you can reply with is with one of these – 
.
Other times, blogging may feel like you have a deadline so while others are outside playing, you are at home thinking, writing, and finishing on time. It also can involve contacting people through emails, only to wait days and months to find out that they will never email you back. It involves going to the library and using the computer there – so you got to be extra quiet. One of the worst feelings is going to your favorite coffee shop with a laptop and midway through typing, the power runs out. You check your bag, but forgot to bring the power chord.
I’ve gone through all of these experiences since March of 2009. And usually I can get past the writer’s blocks phase within an hour, but today I had no idea what to write about. I was struggling. So I decided to go take a shower. Too much was going on. When the hot water was splashing on me, I stop thinking about what to write on. During this period of time, I thought about nothing. I felt the hot water and steam surround my body. Suddenly, I realized that all my struggles that I went through blogging in the past didn’t matter. In fact, when I started to think back, I couldn’t even feel them at all. They were nonexistent and felt like they had disappeared or vanished. It was a refreshing feeling.
I’m assuming that most of the people who comment on my blog are bloggers. We all may be currently struggling to achieve success. But in 1 or 2 years, I honestly think that the struggles we have now will be nonexistent when we think back. They won’t even matter.
The point I want to come across is that when you find yourself struggling, don’t get so worked up. You might be forcing the situation to happen, rather than letting it naturally come to you. Sometimes, when we stop thinking, answers start to appear. Don’t worry so much about the future when you get stuck. Take a break. Take a walk. Go outside. Eat something. You may find the answer doing some of the things that take the least amount of thinking. Even something like showering can give you an idea to write about and get over writer’s block. 
So what about you? What kind of blogging struggles have you had in the past? Do they still bother you today?
Photo Credit: cesarstudillo
{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
I think we all get the blogging blues from time to time. Things don’t grow as fast a we think or we’re not sure if we’re on the right track. You seem to be doing okay here, Hulbert. Like you said, don’t try to force things, just go with the flow. 新年好！
Hey Gordie. How are you doing? I agree with you that we get the blogging blues from time to time. I was just having writer’s block yesterday but I’m glad I got over it by going with the flow. Thanks stopping by and Happy New Year in China!
I agree with Gordie, which is usually the case.
You seem to doing well here. We all go the blogging block from time to time.
My personal way to overcome it is to write loads of posts when I’ve got the buzz (like at the moment0 so that I affectively create a backlog of posts that give me a bit of breathing room for the times when I get a bit of writers blocks. At the moment I could take a few weeks off writing if I needed to or had to and I would still have articles I could use.
I think it’s a great idea to write about your writers block. Very inspired.
Hi Ben, that’s actually a pretty good way to get over writer’s block – to write many posts at once so we can have some breathing room in case writer’s block comes up. I’m going to give that a try. Thanks for the great idea!
I get writers blocks, but mine usually last about two weeks. So from my perspective, you’re lucky
. I think improving my writing style and writing faster and better at the same time was a big one for me. Now that I mostly got it handled, I can reap the rewards. 
Hey Eduard, wow 2 weeks…? That makes me feel like a half day’s of writer’s block is nothing. I guess people have different experiences and I’m glad you are getting better at writing so when you do get writer’s block, you can overcome it faster. Thanks for sharing your viewpoint here.
Hi Hulbert. Looks like you solved your blogging problem by blogging about it. Simply marvelous! I’ve done that before, and before you know, you hit that “post” button, and there’s your blog post for the day. My problem has been feeling discouraged because things don’t grow as fas as I’d like them to and then I question whether or not I’m on the right track or should change how I do things. Similar to what Gordie mentioned above. This is actually something I’ve been experiencing since I started my website in 2007. I made ALOT of changes to the layout/design, and when I was stumped, I gave up completely. I feel that if I didn’t give up, I would be in a better position than I am in now when it comes to my site. So, to answer you question…YES, my blogging struggles still bother me. But I’ve learned to cope with them and to not focus on them as much. So far..it’s working!
Congrats on the name change by the way. I also love the name Tristan, like Brad Pitts’ character in Legends of the Fall. But I believe that it is always better to be authentic.
Hi Patrice, I looked at your website and it looks marvelous. I could totally relate to you in terms of being stumped when things don’t grow as fast as you expect them to. It’s very inspiring that you didn’t give up and kept going! Thanks Patrice.
Thanks Hulbert!
You’re welcome Patrice.
Great post Hulbert! I agree wholeheartedly that sometimes the best thing to do when you’re struggling is to take a step back. So often we let ourselves get riled up and frustrated by what we can’t do…but creativity (and honesty, for that matter) cannot be forced. Blogging needs to comes from the heart and it needs to be honest – your post today achieves both. Thanks!
Oh wow Eran, that was nicely put. I guess you’re right; this post that I wrote did come from my heart and was an honest opinion of what I was thinking during the journey of blogging. Back then, I wish I could of said that the ride was perfectly smooth, but I’m glad now that I didn’t. Blogging struggles can teach us about carrying on when times get tough. Thanks for stopping by!
It’s interesting, I find that when I just turn off the laptop and don’t think about blogging, is when I get all my ideas coming back to me. I appreciate the authenticity in this post.
I get the same feeling too. There’s so much on the laptop that it’s hard to think sometimes. During the times when I turn it off and my mind is not occupied with technology stuff, I also get a lot of ideas that come to mind. Thanks Baker.
Yeah, a lot of times for me I almost have to force myself to turn off the laptop and just go out and maybe just walk for an hour and enjoy nature or treat myself to some ice cream or something fun, to clear my creative space, and get back to blogging.
Taking a walk always helps clear the mind. When I was in Taiwan, I used to go with my uncle on nature hiking trails for an hour about every weekend morning. During that hour, I always had a lot of ideas that came to me. I guess it was just because I didn’t have my laptop, I couldn’t write anything. When I didn’t force my thoughts to come to me, they just naturally came. Then I would have some ideas for blogging when I came back home.
Hey Hulbert,
Those nature hikes sound really nice. That’s awesome that just something as simple as walking in nature clears up the mind and opens up creativity. I actually moved out from Southern California to Arizona, and there are plenty of nice hiking and nature trails that I also hike up, and they are really blissful.
Nice Baker. The air over there is probably also a lot clearer than the air in here Southern California.
Yeah it’s clear here. 3 out of the 4 seasons there is really amazing weather, and everyone knows the Summer it gets very hot in Arizona. The thing is the Arizona heat is not “humid” they call it “dry heat” so you don’t really “sweat” if that makes sense…
Dude, everything is a struggle.
Not just blogging….
That’s so true aDeeb. Blogging is just one of many struggles we have in life. Keep it up though. They can teach us a lot about ourselves.
Thanks for sharing your thought. Sometimes a writer or blogger feel bore when he/she didn’t get any niche topic or interesting topic that his or her visitors need. Then he spends too much time on researching and no result that time a blogger feel bore.
No problem Chris. Thanks for sharing your thoughts here as well.
Writing block not quite nice and I do get that every now and then. What I have leant though is writing when I don’t plan too but feel like it …it’s simply flows when I do this . Great Post Hulbert
Hi Fatibony, I agree that sometimes we do get writer’s block when we don’t want to write. I think it’s often because we’re trying to force something to happen, and if nothing does, we become frustrated. It’s good that you write whenever you feel like it. When we become enthusiastic about writing, many good ideas usually come to us during these positive moments.
Hi Hulbert,
I’ve been hit with writers block (or is that blogk for us bloggers?) more time than I can count. For me, I realized I was trying too hard. Your idea of stepping away from the blog is spot on.
I have a blogging buddy who was hit by writers block and published a post titled “Nothing” and then published a blank screen. I loved the ingeniousness of his idea although I don’t know if I’d have the nerve to do it.
Haha, really? I probably wouldn’t have the nerve to do that either, but it seemed like a creative idea (I don’t know how his reader’s might respond to it though). It is true though that if we step away from blogging, random ideas will usually start coming to us. I think this is often because our thoughts are so focused on the frequent ideas that we are so used to when blogging.
Hi Hulbert, yes, I can relate. I definitely go through periods when none of my blog ideas interest me. Sometimes I think that I’ve said everything I’d like to day (sad since I’ve only been blogging since September). But I’ve noticed that when I get out there and live my life instead of reading and writing blog posts, that’s when inspiration finds me.
Nicely said Belinda. I feel the same way too sometimes, but when I stop reading for once or when I go outside to just relax, I usually get a lot of ideas that motivate and inspire me. Crazy how that works, huh…
Hi Hulbert!
I go through phases of it, but then I draw on what’s going on in real life, what might my readers relate to, or any experiments I’m working on.
We’re human, never perfect, and sometimes our m inds don’t work the way we want to. Stress never helps and it’s something I need to learn to control.
Hi Moon, I know what you’re saying. Sometimes I expect perfection from myself than realize that our minds don’t always work the way we want it too. Trying to control a situation only will cause more stress. I’ve also learned that trying to write blog articles where my readers can relate to is often more helpful to getting positive responses than if I were to talk at them the whole time in the article like a lecturer.
90% of the time, if I’m struggling finding something to write it is because I haven’t read much in the last month. If I concentrate on output instead of input, I eventually run dry on ideas. So writers block is always a wake-up call to me that I need to do more reading.
Great advice here Mark. I like what you mean by input and output. If we focus on output, we will be more inclined to get reader’s block. But if we focus on input like reading, or listening to audio tapes, or watching video clips, it’s more likely that we will come up with some ideas that help us overcome reader’s block.
Hey brother, what you have done in this post is the exact thing I say for everyone to do if they get a mind melt and can’t think of anything to write about.
When ever you have writers block the best way to get out of it, is to write about it, such a simple exercise, but works a treat.
Great stuff
Hi TheInfoPreneur, it’s kind of funny and ironic how that worked out, and writing about something naturally from my own personal experience (which is this post ) ended up being the most popular one so far. Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Hulbert,
I think that every blogger goes through this phase occasionally. There are many suggestions for overcoming this, but everyone is different so there is no cure-all. You have to try different approaches and determine what best works for you.
I wrote a post about this not so long ago, you can find it at the link below. It does lay out some techniques I have used in the past to beat this.
As time goes on and you write more and more, these episodes seem to be fewer, so keep writing as often as you can.
Here is the post I mentioned above: http://bit.ly/cBOxE4
See you around the net!
Nicely said Jimi. There are different approaches to overcoming reader’s block and I think your right in that the more we write, the less we have these types of experiences where we feel stuck. Your post also shows some great examples. Thank you.
Yes, I absolutely have blogging struggles from time to time. I started around when you did and some days shine and some are soggy. Some posts flow like water and some just get stuck between head and keyboard. I recently wrote about my own species of struggle at my blog – http://www.ivyleagueinsecurities.com/2010/02/icing-insecurities/. Check it out if you have a minute!
Thank you for the thoughtful and honest post. Happy to have found my way to your blog!
Haha I like how you compare shine and soggy. Yes, I agree that days can be good or bad when it comes to writing. Sometimes we flow and sometimes we get stuck. I just read your post and I think it’s very good. It relates to what I was going through here. Thanks for stopping by.
When I get “the block” its a sign that I need to do something. My last big mental freeze came right before I decided to an experiment where I would wake up every morning at 3am. Once I wrote that article, the ideas began to flow.
I think stepping back is good but I think it is best to step back and do something worth writing about. I feel that the more exciting the activity the more passion who will have when you tell your readers about it.
Thanks for sharing
Hey Ralph, how did waking up at 3 AM go? That is pretty early, but I’m pretty sure at that time everyone is sleeping and it is easier to gather ideas when it’s completely silent, instead of having the typical noises we would hear during the day.
I also agree that it’s important to step back and think of something worth writing about. If we feel more excited about the topic, we can create more passion within us to want share our ideas with our readers.
Waking up at 3 am was fantastic! It started as an experiment but its a lifestyle now. I’m up at 3 about 4 times a week. Sometimes more if I really need to get something done. It was great to challenge myself and succeed. It was also great to see so many of my readers take on the same, or a similar challenge of waking up early.
And you’re right, it is much easier to gather ideas because not only are the typical noises not there, the people who would usually call, text, or IM you are all sleeping. So there are no interruptions.
I have to honestly say that I have trouble just posting 3-4 X a week. I have a backlog of about 30 posts, and I want to publish every week but that would be too much b/c there are too many comments, and I like to respond to most all of them!
If you focus your blog topics, I think it’ll help you with writers block.
Or, you can join groups like The Yakezie Group I formed, where there’s mutual support from our 40+ members.
Best, Sam
Whoa you’re right. You do get a lot of comments! But you seem to be already publishing every week and pulling it off nicely. I’ll take your advice into consideration for helping me in case I stumble across writer’s block again. Thank you.
I love your concluding thoughts. As with all life, its about “being open to experience events”…not resisting “BEING”. It sounds philosophical but as you have said it, it works.
Thanks.
Thanks Christopher, I also agree. An important part of life is about being and not trying to force or control a situation. This allows us to be open to events and opportunities that we do not see when we are trying too hard to make something happen.
I’d say my biggest struggle is actually not getting carried away with web surfing for hours before actually closing everything and getting things written. I have to say though, I somewhat disagree with the whole “take it easy and go for a walk” idea, because I was reading that Stephen King, even when he has writer’s block, just sits down and goes at it until he gets his 2000 words done for the day. He says the best way to tackle writer’s block is to keep writing, whatever crap that may come out. You can always get rid of it later, or at least fix it up. Maybe it’s subjective, but for me the system where I keep writing through it seems to work. But I still like your emphasis on that in a year from now it won’t even matter.
Hey Robby, I totally respect your opinion. I think different ways work for different people. The Stephan King method that you pointed is also a good idea – to keep writing whatever comes from your mind, no matter how bad it is. He probably knows a lot about this stuff since he is a famous author.
I don’t know, it’s just for me though, whenever I get writer’s block, not thinking about writing somehow helps me come up with ideas and this often happens when I’m away from the computer. I like your suggestion though and I will keep it in mind when I encounter another blogging struggle. Thanks for your comment Robby.