26 January 2010
by 
I’ve been in danger lately of getting overwhelmed with blogging work. I have all my ideas on my editorial calendar, but with so many topics in so many niches, I often sit down to write and still don’t know where to start.
Which blog? They’re all priority. Which idea? Each one tugs at my attention, begging to be released onto the page. Which client? They all pay well and on time — no favoritism here.
I decided to take a unique approach last evening, almost like freewriting with purpose. I couldn’t find paper or pen so I grabbed my calendar and a blue, fine point Sharpie. (So blame any grammatical errors on the fumes please… and the fact that I often have trouble reading my handwriting the next day.)
I started writing. I had no topics or even a particular blog in mind. I let the words come, in the messy, haphazard way I write hand-written first drafts on the rare occasions I choose to.
First, I wrote a post about types of blog posts for business owners. One Long Island Exchange column done.
Then I decided to blog about the entire experience here at WRA. In an odd way, the juxtaposition of the Sharpie, the calendar, sitting in my daughter’s room as she played for a bit before bed, took all pressure off me as a “professional writer with too much work.” (Is there such a thing as too much work?)
I completed my first post in record time. It is only now that I stop to think about what I’m writing, and, at this point the magic, the flurry, begins to vanish. The moment is gone.
Now I’m wondering about word count, graphics, linkback opportunities. (I know Rebecca and some of WRA’s other contributors have written about freewriting in the past.) I’m no longer writing. I’m “working” again.
And that’s not a bad thing. After all, those of us who love what we do everyday hesitate to even call it work. I am grateful every day to be blessed with this career path.
But for a brief time, it was nice to immerse myself in that “zone” — a writer, a pen (of sorts), paper… it’s cozy. It reminded me of a time when I thought of all writing as a hobby, not a vocation.
Writers, what do you do when you want to get back to basics — either to beat writer’s block, jumpstart a project or to simply begin enjoying the act of writing again and forget that you do it for a living?
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I read the new york times. There’s something about it that lights a fire under my creative muse. If I’m working on a copywriting project I read sales letters written by Jay Abraham. Even though he doesn’t hire himself out as a copywriter anymore he’s a master of sales psychology — reading his writing awakens the salesman within.
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One reason why we have trouble writing is that our minds are full of worries, thereby not allowing creativity to push through. Getting a pen and paper and releasing our mind can be our pen to work.
I embrace my pen and paper when the ideas won’t leave me alone at night. Sometimes I’ll be awake, sprawled out across my bed scratching away in the shadows of night for pages at a time. Because I embrace the Idea Waterfall I can’t ignore these night muses no matter how frustrating it can be because I know I “should” be sleeping. 3am… 4am… 5am… the sun is starting to rise! GO TO SLEEP, MUSE! lol
But, it’s amazing what comes out when the house is quiet and there is nothing between my mind and my pen, not even a shining screen and the comfortable clicking of keys. It really is a “writing zone” and at that hour I’m not in work mode, everything that comes is pure inspiration and not with any intention of making things happen.
I wish it were that easy in the light of day when deadlines are looming.
Reading other blogs can get the writing juices flowing again. Brainstorming ideas is another way to go. Write anything that “pops” into your mind. Finally, working on another writing piece such as a poem or short story, can send ideas to your mind in an instant!
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