While it’s relatively easy to include pictures, audio, and even video in posts these days, most blogs still rely heavily on it written content.
This makes writer’s block a real problem when it hits.
That is why I have been talking about the steps you can take to overcome it in the past few weeks find out why you’re stuck to come up with fresh ideas and let the words flow.
And this week I want to finish this little series with the last step to overcome the writer’s block: ending every blog post you start.
Draft expenditure
When I speak to bloggers at conferences, I like to ask the question: “How many design contributions do you have in WordPress or on which blogging platform you use? How much content did you start but never finished? “
I’m always amazed at how many bloggers have half-written posts and how many half-written posts they have. Mind you, in the early stages of ProBlogger, I also had a lot of unfinished posts – 93 to be precise.
Some were nothing more than titles and a few points. Some had introductions, but not much else. Some were almost done and only needed a conclusion, a picture or some further links. And some were actually complete, but were never released because I didn’t think they were ready to go live.
Obviously I had a problem filling out posts at the time. But even now I sometimes find it difficult to get posts done. And judging by the answers I get to my conference question, I’m not alone.
What’s stopping you?
Why are so many people struggling to complete their posts?
Personally, I struggled to have too many ideas to write about. Before I finished one post, I thought about the next one. In fact, one longer post I wrote sparked so many ideas that I wrote seven more posts before I finished it.
Well, that may not seem to be a problem, especially if you’re struggling to find something any Ideas. But it can cause you to jump from one blog post to the next and not complete any of them.
Some bloggers struggle with perfectionism. They don’t think their posts are good enough to publish and either keep tinkering with them or giving them up entirely.
Others lose interest in what they are writing about before they finish the post. I sometimes have problems with it, especially when I’m working on a really long post. Writing some of these posts can take days or even weeks, and it’s easy to get discouraged by how long it takes.
Early release
However, some bloggers have another problem with completion: they click “Publish” before their posts can go live.
Some of them do not have enough depth or offer as much value as they could. Sometimes they need a better title, a better introduction, or a better degree. And some just need a final proofreading to fix the typo.
Unfortunately, while posting these posts solves the completion issue, this can also damage your brand, so you may be reluctant to post more posts.
How can you continue to complete these unpublished posts and post them on your blog without compromising on quality?
The way forward
The simple (and obvious) solution to this problem is to change your mindset and be disciplined about your blogging. In other words, you have to sit in front of the keyboard and complete these posts.
Which means you take some time just like you would to develop your ideas and get into the flow of writing.
in the Episode 40 of the ProBlogger podcast I’ve shared my weekly schedule, which consists of three sessions to edit, revise and complete blog posts and other tasks.
Why? Because if I didn’t put that time aside, these tasks would never be done.
I spend these sessions looking for a good picture, adding or editing some depth (or links for further reading), and proofreading. I may also end a podcast, complete an eBook, or add the finishing touches to a presentation
Create checklist
My other suggestion is to create a checklist that will not only help you complete your posts, but also complete them well.
A checklist like this will:
- help you improve your posts
- Prevent you from posting before they are really complete
- Help avoid perfectionism by knowing that you have done everything to prepare it for publication.
What should your checklist look like? Well, here are nine questions you should ask yourself before you click Publish.
1. Is this contribution important?
This is probably the most important thing to ask yourself before your post goes online. The contribution should be meaningful and offer added value for your readers.
If not, you should probably keep working on it until it works.
2nd Is the title good enough?
A good title can attract people, which is particularly important for search engines. Is yours good enough to do that?
3. Does it have a strong opening?
Does your post start well? Will your introduction fascinate people and make them read on?
4. Have you clearly explained your main point?
This may well depend on the type of post you are writing. Regardless of whether you teach something or give your opinion, you need to let people know why they should read your post.
5. Has it an appropriate conclusion and / or a call to action?
While your posts should always have a strong opening, they should also have a strong ending. Do you summarize everything well and encourage your readers to take action? Or does your contribution simply stop?
6. Could you add more depth?
Could you add more value by reading on, adding another quote, or giving another example?
7. Have you invited your readers to interact, respond and / or share?
Have you given your readers the opportunity to participate in the conversation and talk about the topic? Did you ask them to share your information with others?
8th. Did you proofread it?
Did you go through it one last time to sort out spelling or grammatical errors?
9. Could you make it more visually appealing?
Is there a better picture you could use? Would it be worth embedding a video, tweet, or Instagram post? Could you improve formatting? Do you need to split the text with more headings?
Ask for help
My last suggestion is to get help filling out your posts wherever you can.
Obviously there are some parts of the blogging process that you have to do yourself, e.g. B. writing posts and recording podcasts. However, part of the thesis can often be done by someone else – editing, proofreading, planning, etc.
We have part-time editors at ProBlogger and Digital Photography School who not only help with my posts, but also with those of our other authors. They even help with editorial strategy and planning.
Fortunately, I am now able to hire people to take on these roles. But that was not always the case.
At some point, another blogger and I made a deal where we spent ten minutes reading each other’s posts and giving feedback. While this often meant pointing out typos and grammatical errors, it also included suggestions for adding images, sub-headings, or links for further reading.
Do you know someone with whom you could make a similar deal? It could be another blogger or just someone who would be willing to review your posts and give quick feedback.
How deep can you go?
How many unfinished blog posts do you currently have? Hopefully it’s nothing like the 93 I had all those years ago. However, I hope even more that you can now review, complete and publish them again.
Let’s see how close to zero you can get that number.
This is the last post in our series on hitting writer’s blocks. What do you think about the series? Did it help you to loosen up? Let us know in the comments?
Photo by sporlab on Unsplash