Bloggers Block: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

The following post was submitted by Lyndon fromFlockblog
A successful Blogger does one thing above all others.
A blogger writes.
A successful Blogger puts fingers to the keyboard and writes quality blog posts often and regularly. Seems obvious, but one of the biggest potential problems successful bloggers can have is procrastination and no one is more guilty than me. Even writing this post has had me thinking that maybe I should do the washing up, or I must just check my email. Sometimes it俿 the hardest thing to sit down and write. Here are some tips that if followed make things a whole lot easier.
Develop a routine. Brainstorm topics Free Associate Go for a walk. Set Achievable Goals Reward Yourself Minimise Distractions Discipline Yourself Give yourself a deadline Show off your past successes
1. Develop a routine.
If you know that from 2:30pm to 3:30 you must write two posts, it makes things a lot easier. An established routine means you do not have to think what you should be doing, you just do it. Timetable your day, work out a routine that works for you.
2. Brainstorm topics
In a brainstorm there is no bad idea, only ideas. So write out everything you know on the subject. Do not edit or concern about the quality of information, just let it flow. This allows the brain to free up a little and run wild, throwing up all sorts of interesting things you may not have thought of.
3. Free Associate
Before I perform creative writing I dump what ever is in my head onto the keyboard, I let the words just flow without thinking. What I end up with is pretty odd sometimes and delete what I wrote, but it gets the juices flowing, it puts the brain in that mode you need to be in when you write.
4. Go for a walk.
I find that too much time in front of the PC and my mind goes to mush. Put on your walking shoes and go for a brisk work, scientists have proved that walking helps stimulate certain parts of the brain that enables you to think more clearly.
5. Set Achievable Goals
There is no point in thinking you will write 100 quality posts in a couple of hours. Set goals that are easy and have lots of them, you will find when all the small goals are added up, you have arrived at your big goal without even realising it. This is not to say don倀 think big, shoot for the stars. But in your daily goal setting routine it is important to set goals you know you can achieve.
6. Reward Yourself
Have you worked like a dog all day and completed everything you wanted to do? Then reward yourself, I have a bar of chocolate on my desk, which I treat myself to once I have completed my tasks.
7. Minimise Distractions
Like most of us. I work from home and it can be a huge distraction from blogging. I am in a particularly tricky situation, as I have a 1 year old little boy and every time I hear him laugh I need to go and see what抯 happening. A big problem can be TV, email, talking on the telephone ect. Roald Dhal would write in a shed at the bottom of the garden. He would make a warm cosy nest away from the distractions of the real world. . Having a partner that is supportive is vital. I have a very supporting wife who puts
up with an awful lot from my chosen career.
8. Discipline Yourself
When you tell yourself you are going to do something make sure you accomplish it. If you find yourself justifying why you haven倀 completed the task then it usually means you are wrong and just didn倀 do it. If you constantly fail to create blog posts and find it impossible to sit down and do it, then perhaps you need to be honest about your real desires and goals.
9. Give yourself a deadline
It helps if you already have a routine, but if you set a time when a blog post should be finished it will help. It俿 not as scary as not handing in homework on time when you were a child, but knowing you have set a deadline can only help. You must keep to your own deadlines, be honest and do not set unrealistic deadlines. Know thyself!
10. Show off your past successes
Print out your successful posts and stick them on a wall, maybe you had great comments from esteemed bloggers, print those up as well. Surround yourself with your success and never forget how fantastic you are.
Just do it.
by Darren: Great list Lyndon - and if people are still stuck check out myrecent series on bloggers block which picks up some similar themes and ideas.