Blogging: How to combat 'blank page syndrome'
As part of our Blogging Best Practice series it seemed fitting to use this guest post from Jane Penson of Grammar to Go which explores the dilemma that can face bloggers: the blank page syndrome - that empty screen with the expectant cursor blinking at you!
Do check out Jane's Grammar to Go blog, where this article was first published and where you can sign up to 17 Days to Better Grammar, a fun and free email course.
Most people suffer from white page syndrome or similar when faced with a writing task. Here is a coping strategy I find very valuable.
People call it writer's block, procrastination, blank page syndrome... Whatever it feels like, we all have trouble starting writing jobs; even professional writers need strategies.
Here's a technique I often turn to in my hour of need. Take a sheet of paper and a pencil. Write these words with plenty of space between them:
Know
Feel
Do
Under ‘know' list the factual information that you need your reader to understand as a result of reading what you are about to write.
For me now, this is:
- Everyone experiences some form of writers' block.
- There are lots of strategies - this is one
- How to use ‘know, feel, do'.
Under ‘feel' write down how you would like your readers to feel when they read it.
In my case:
- Reassured that it is not just them
- Interested to try a new technique
- That this looks useful and maybe Jane Penson has other interesting things to say
Under ‘do', write down what you would like your readers to do directly as a result of reading this. For me:
- Give it a try next time they write something
- Look at other blogs I have written
- Have a nose around the rest of the website
Benefits
- It only takes a few minutes.
- It can get your thinking process started before you even see the big white screen staring out at you.
- You get your head in the right place (thinking about the readers).
- You will focus on facts first which is often a good strategy.
Try it today. Let me know how you get on.
This blog post is part of our Blogging Best Practice series.