7 Ways to Keep Blogging When You Feel Off
It’s natural to feel off-writing sometimes. Luckily, there are proven ways to boost your creativity and get back on track.
I have a complicated relationship with blogging.
On the one hand, blogging is fun and meaningful. It’s where I can freely convey my ideas and help others.
On the other hand, blogging can drain my energy sometimes.
I don’t like the starting out phase, the so-called “writer’s block” almost every writer faces once in a while. It can be so damn frustrating to have only a vague idea and freeze in front of the blank page.
On top of that, writing itself is hard. Organizing your thoughts in a simple yet compelling way takes work.
Furthermore, every day can bring you something and take you out of your workflow. For example, I was invited to my friend’s party the other day, and I couldn’t say no. It’s a good friend of mine, after all. But, unfortunately, this is precisely when I usually sit and write a post.
Then, after breaking the writing routine, it suddenly became more challenging for me to return to it. The next day I could not force myself to write in the evening, and so the day after.
On other occasions, my neighbor puts on loud music that distracts me from writing. When hearing these annoying sounds, I hardly concentrate, even with earplugs.
As a creative activity, writing requires us to be super-focused. But, at the same time, life throws different things and vibes that do not always allow focusing.
So, how can you start writing when it is difficult to focus? What should you do if you feel unmotivated or out of ideas?
In this article, I’d like to share seven tips I found handy to blog when you don’t feel in the writing mood. So, without further ado, let’s jump into it.
7 Ways to Keep Blogging When You Feel Off
Forcing Yourself to Sit and Write
If you are already a writer or blogger like me, there will be days that you’ll be out of ideas or patience to write. Sometimes, I don’t want to write anything literally.
That’s normal and happens even to experienced writers.
What these writers know better than beginners, though, is to force themselves to write anyways. So, they cultivate a habit of starting the flow even when they feel off.
Turn on your PC or Laptop, open that word or Google doc file and write something. Write down if you already have an idea you thought about before. If not, write a bucket list of potential ideas you want to write about, and then choose one.
Then, add some bullet points and write several sentences on each one. After that, you can start writing the intro, the first tip paragraph, the second, and so forth.
If you still feel stuck, try ChatGPT or other AI writing assistance. Generate with the tool some ideas to inspire you with more of your own. Nevertheless, don’t entirely rely on auto-generated suggestions (they might be wrong), and don’t use Ai tools to generate the content.
Try looking at the post you write as chunks of different points and paragraphs. That is less intimidating than forcing yourself to write a complete article immediately.
It is not rocket science. If you read this article, you already know how to write. Maybe better than me.
I briefly noted these principles to emphasize the importance of starting anyways. After that phase, the rest usually becomes much more accessible. When feeling unmotivated and lack of ideas, the way to start writing is to force yourself to write anything and develop it on the go.
Go for a Walk in the Nearby Park
Another way to tackle writer’s block is to go for a walk. When my creativity is off, my nearby park is my first go-to — walking in the woods and hearing the birds chill me out and open my mind to new ideas.
It’s not just me. There is science behind it.
Did you know that walking can help you become more creative? This is what this Stanford University study proved in 2014.
So, when forcing yourself to sit and write doesn’t yield anything, you may want to go for a walk. I advocate for nature-like places such as the nearby park or the open field if you live in a town. But a short walk in the street might also work for you.
Visit a Friend or Socialize with New People
When overcoming the blank page syndrome, usually, the writing starts to flow. I enjoy the process and focus well on my paper.
Nonetheless, some days I keep struggling in the writing phase. The words don’t come, and I get stuck. It somehow feels not right.
So sure, sometimes it’s a sign to change the topic and write about the one you are more interested in. But in many other cases, it means taking a break and doing something else.
Writing is traveling in my inner world — thinking about ideas and landing them on paper. Therefore, it is a meaningful and satisfying experience to spread my thoughts to the world through writing.
However, writing is also a lonely activity where I focus on myself and disconnect from the social world. That could be putting my friends, family members, and colleagues on hold and the opportunity to meet new people at a local event.
Alone time is great, but you may need to leave your inner world to socialize when you feel off writing. Coming back with good vibes from a friend or social event can bring you back the energy to write.
Change the Time of the Day You Blog
Everyone has their own time in the day to become productive. Some prefer the evenings (like me), and others favor the mornings. Those who work full-time in blogging can also write during the day, which is ideal.
Let’s talk about blogging as a side hustle, however. Let’s say, hypothetically, you decided to write with your coffee in the morning. It first worked well, but you started to feel unmotivated and tired after a while.
That could be tricky to recognize immediately, as you might think it’s the writing experience itself. Is writing really for me? You might ask yourself when feeling unmotivated. However, it might be only the wrong time to write.
In such a case, shifting the writing hours to the evening might help. Or it might not, but it is worth trying. Test the new routine for two days and see how you feel about your writing and how productive you become.
Something Is Better Than Nothing
When you don’t feel ready to sit and write for a long time, write for a few minutes. That’s better than not writing at all.
If you don’t have the time or energy, write just one paragraph. Or a few bullet points for your tips post or even one sentence. That’s still better than doing nothing and feeling bad about it afterward.
My perfectionism used to hit hard in this regard. I am generally an all-or-nothing person, so I’ve been struggling for years with doing only part of the project. With writing, though, I somehow taught myself to do only some of the work and be okay with it.
When I don’t feel into writing, I do the little things that require less energy — for example, writing an introduction draft, exploring some bullet points, and writing them down. This kind of stuff is easier to digest while being unmotivated.
The critical key to being a persistent blogger is writing something. Of course, the more, the better, but even one sentence is excellent.
Write About Thing That Bothers You NOW
When feeling unmotivated to blog, it might be that your topic doesn’t interest you right now. It could have been interesting when you planned it, but not now. Now you have a bit different issue or new passion for pursuing.
To get back to writing, focus on those topics that bother you now.
As a blogger who writes primarily on WordPress, SEO planning plays a vital role in my blogging. I research keywords in advance and plan my content into categories, all of which provide a topical authority.
That can be limiting. Sometimes I don’t want to write about my planned topics.
For instance, my current WordPress blog query is about personal vs. professional goals. This post should help my blog to be more helpful overall. However, the other day I found myself stuck with starting to write such a post.
On the other hand, writing about dealing with my noisy neighbor is far more relevant and exciting to write about. I deal with this noise almost every day and seek solutions.
Luckily, I came across Medium lately and started to blog here too. So, I wrote about that and published it on this platform.
In other words, blogging on Medium breaks me from the “helpfulness goals” of my WordPress blog. Instead, writing here comes from my gut and allows me to be creative. Moreover, this sort of content usually performs better.
Writing about what bothers you now is a valuable feature to streamline writing.
So, if the previous methods in the article don’t work, try this one. Leave the planned posts aside, and think about what bothers you now. What issue in life are you facing these days? Then, write about it, and you’ll see that the words would come into place more effortlessly than with a planned post.
Try Free Writing
Freewriting is a great way to befriend writing again when blogging feels like a hassle. Allow yourself to write personal matters in different styles.
Try writing poems (without ChatGPT:), journaling about how you feel today, or on your goals and the great things you have in life and feel blessed for.
Free writing can be super handy to overcome writer’s block and get your ideas flowing. It’s also great for rewriting after a break.
I use it occasionally to get back to writing, and it works. Writing is easier when you don’t have the burden of constructing your thoughts well — as you have in a blog post. So instead, write anything that comes to mind.
Free writing will start moving your brain cells when you feel stuck with your blogging, and it might even bring you a brilliant post idea unexpectedly.
Final Words
Writer’s block is one of the most common issues debated among bloggers. As someone who wrestles with that, I suggested several ideas to tackle the block and start writing your thing.
Writing itself can also be challenging. No matter how you would look at it, writing is not an easy task — you need to know how to tell a story or be extremely helpful on a query. But, simultaneously, be clear and exciting with your ideas.
Unfortunately, bearing all that in mind could lead to avoidance, and that’s a pity. In such a case, forcing yourself to write even one paragraph is best. On other occasions, it might be getting refreshed with non-writing activities like seeing friends, walking in nature, and sports.
These tips have helped me in my blogging journey, and I hope they will inspire you to keep blogging consistently.
