When I was downloading files of a demo video in order to watch it offline at a later time, I took a look [...]]]> Think you cannot write? Wanna know how to overcome writer’s block? Here’s a test I did just today in order to write this very article here…

When I was downloading files of a demo video in order to watch it offline at a later time, I took a look at the time that was remaining to have the video fully downloaded on my hard drive. It displayed “35 minutes remaining.” I found myself asking what I could do with those 35 minutes.

“I could drink a glass of wine.”

Straight to the kitchen, I grabbed a glass of wine, went back to my desk, and started sipping. Well, that took me only 20 seconds. What the heck am I going to do with the remaining 34 minutes and 40 seconds?

“I could write an article for my blog.”

That’s it! Write an article for my blog and show my readers that they can do the same. I could tell my readers there exist people that need 1-2 days to write an article for their site, whereas others need a lot less than an hour (ex., while downloading something ;-).

I am confident there are people out there that can write a 500 word article in 10 minutes. My mom is one of those high-speed writers. No, that’s even lightning speed, isn’t it!

OK, back to my writing…

So I opened up the plain text editor on my machine (NotePad, that is) and started writing.

The first thing I usually do is decide upon a topic to write about. In most cases, I take a look at a keyword list; either at the one I already have or simply by going to one of the keyword research sites (ex., WordTracker, Google) and perform a quick brainstorm in order to find profitable keyword phrases, topics where people are looking for information and solutions.

Yes, when you build a Web site, in order to succeed you’re better off providing solutions to problems. Give them what they want and everyone will be happy, win-win all over the place.

Alright, back to my writing… I opened up my Web browser and went to Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool in order to find a keyword phrase for this very article real quick. I put myself into the visitors shoe… What would *you* be looking for? What would your question be? What would you probably enter into the search box at a Search Engine?

The topic I’d probably write about is how to overcome a writer’s block. So… When I’d have that sort of obstacle I’d probably enter “Writers block” at the Search Engine. So, that’s what I entered at Google’s Keyword Tool, including checking the “Use synonyms” check box. (Who knows, perhaps Google shows me keywords that are more profitable than the one I’m thinking of?)

Once I clicked on the “Get Keyword Ideas” button it brought back a list of 12 related keywords plus 30 additional keywords to consider. Wow, I was in business!

And there it is, my keyword: “writers block” with good demand and supply; even “overcoming writers block” is worth considering.

Here it was… my today’s topic to write about.

Since I have knowledge on how to overcome writers block, I was excited. I started writing right away. I wasn’t thinking—I just started writing.

And this is what I recommend you to do whenever you encounter a writer’s block, whenever you think you don’t know what to write about what. Just start writing! Even if you think it’s just plain stupid, just start writing. The first couple of paragraphs really don’t have to make perfectly sense.

There are only two things you need to take care of at the beginning…

#1 – Get started by just writing. The more you write the more you’re going to let the words flow naturally, the more profound knowledge will flow through your fingers. And…

#2 – Perfectionism paralyzes. There’s a *perfect* example I’m going to share with you here. As you know, English is my second language. So there are quite a few words I don’t know the word in English but in German. When I’m writing and such a word occurs, I put special marks around that word (ex., _word_). Later, I can find or replace that word once I got my draft finished and mentally go into editing mode. So…

Put those words on (electronic) paper and edit later. (Wow, a rhyme!)

-

That’s about it. Let’s take a look at the counter…

1 minute and 15 seconds remaining at the download timer. OK, that was not writing at lighting speed, but it’s done after all! And I do have an excuse… I sipped that delicious white wine a couple times! ;-)

My today’s story is finished!

I wish you all the best and… happy writing! :-)

—Marcus Hochstadt

P.S. I did indeed take a couple more minutes (10, perhaps) for editing the article and bringing it in better shape. Again, without perfectionism. Keep your focus on simplicity and basics.