You have to write bad before you write good

Okay, so, the only way this post is happening is because I set a timer.

Okay, now I started, but how to follow up?

Do you feel like this when you try to write? Time keeps going and you feel stuck, unable to find the words to put on the page.

Or maybe you’ve found the words but aren’t sure you should use them. If this were a game of poker, you’d ask to redraw because you know you can’t bluff.

If this is you, I can relate. No really, it’s been almost a month since my first post on my blog. Oh, what post is this? Uhh… my second.

Write anything

Have you ever heard the advice to “just write, you can edit later.”

I’ve heard that advice and tried it out. I allowed myself to write whatever was on my mind. It felt good to be writing, BUT… none of it was usable.

Or so I thought…

It wasn’t a journal, but it was writing for an audience of one. The thought of showing anyone what I wrote, even my wife, scared me half to death.

I only came up with a few ideas on what to write, but as so on as I started figuring out the structure and how I would go about it, I would stop. It was as if trying to see my words on the screen before I wrote them and they were smeared all together.

No, seriously, write anything

Writing makes manifest our thoughts. All of your writing, starts in your head.

So get out of your head. Put those words on paper.

Don’t let your inner critic be a bouncer

Right now, your words are people and your inner critic is playing bouncer to the most exclusive club, your blog. But they are so stingy they aren’t letting anyone in. In fact, they’re trying to close the doors and chain the handles.

Let your inner critic play arm chair writer instead

Let your inner critic sit in an arm chair to judge everything you put on the paper. They can be brutal, but you can always take that feedback and improve when you’ve written something.

Take the walls off of your writing

I’m going to borrow the analogy I came up with in the previous section. Do you see your blog as a confined space? Your little corner of the internet? While that may sound comforting if you’re an introvert, the digital landscape we write on is size we make it.

I don’t think your writing should be an exclusive, who’s who of writing where you only write your best thoughts but rather an organic landscape of rolling hills with fertile soil.

Cultivate the land with your ideas. Plant plenty, water it all, and see what grows. You can always readjust your approach or what your write about in the future. But you need to start converting thoughts to words.

Try this,

Take a thought and write about it as if you were describing it to yourself in the mirror. Now imagine the person in the mirror is intrigued and wants to know a little bit more. Give them a little bit of info to support your thought.

There you have it, your first blog post. It might not be award winning, but it’s a win. All you have to do is another one and then you’re on a winning streak.