Getting Down to It - Dealing with Writer's Block

Today, writers have to find new ways to get their material out. The phenomenal growth of the eBook industry is no accident. This new medium of distribution is fast, efficient and extremely profitable.

If you want to start your new business of selling words, the same words, over and over again without lifting a finger when it’s done, then you have to start right now.

Maybe you’ve already started, or is it still just an idea? Maybe you just can’t keep at it or the finish line seems too far away. Either way, it can be frustrating when your “get-up-and-go” gets up and, well, goes!

It happens to all writers. The dreaded "writer’s block," the equally troublesome "information block." Or, worst of all, the "I don't have anything worth saying" block.

The last type of block is truly the worst impairment to completing your eBook, as it can be damaging to your confidence. Anyone – I repeat, anyone – has a story to tell. You have a story to tell. We all do!

Unless you’re a person who writes all their books with pen in hand on a pad of paper in a continuous stream of consciousness, you will have to find alternative ways to get those pages done.

Here are several ways to keep the words coming:

Points to Paragraphs to Pages

For example, in a section you know the information very well the problem might have been you had never attempted to explain it to anyone else. You might have avoided that section of the eBook for some time. You knew it had to be done but kept procrastinating.

The longer you waited, the worst your anxiety got. Finally, you sat down to take a stab at it and in doing so, developed a way to put it all together that you now use regularly.

You decided to make a simple point-form list of all the key ideas and information you needed to explain. You jotted them all down as quickly as possible.

You didn't care what order they were in; You just wrote them down on paper one after the other. If you remembered more items, points or details, you just added them to the end of the list.

Before long, you had two pages of points you needed to make. You looked over the list and deleted a few points you could do without. It's easier to add while you are on a roll, then delete what you don't need later.

When you had all the points you needed, you took out a fresh sheet of lined paper and rewrote these points in the order you thought they should be presented, as best as you could.

You spaced each point out with two or three lines in between. You thought about how you would use this summary of steps if you were presenting this topic verbally to a class.

How could you present it in an interesting and engaging way?

The idea can be a pretty dry subject, so you endeavoured to add some flavour where you could.

You looked at each of these points and wrote one or two sentences in the spaces below that explained the point.

Approaching your eBook in this way makes the blank page less daunting. Simply break it down to the essentials and slowly expand each point.

Don't be too concerned about the flow of the points yet. Just add a few sentences to each point and before you know it, you've written a few pages and have developed a good structure for that section.

Don't edit as you go; just get it down. Editing is for later... much later. Once you have gone as far as you can, I suggest that you take a break to get some perspective and distance yourself from the material before looking it over again.

The World at Your Fingertips

For the "Information Block" problem, consider yourself the luckiest writer alive because never in history has so much information been available so quickly and cheaply. The internet and libraries contain almost everything you need on every topic imaginable.

Let’s say your eBook topic deals with Starting a An IT Systems Repair and Care Business for Exercise and Profit. Even using just, the Yellow Pages or a quick internet search, it can be fast and easy to investigate all the IT systems care businesses in your area, the national or international chains, to see what they do and how they do it.

No need to reinvent the wheel here. Look for a few simple ways to make improvements or some new innovative ideas to make your business idea unique.

Keep it Familiar

And finally, write about something you enjoy and know about. You don't have to sit down for hours on end. Try writing just an hour per day, preferably in the morning when your mind is fresh. Increase the time if you feel you are getting on a roll.

If you are interested in developing into a full-time serious writer, leave me a comment in the comments section and I will look into recommending some eBooks. Just don't substitute your writing time for your reading time or your ebook will never get done.

This is a habit with which I still struggle. I take too much time out from writing to read, justifying to myself that I’m still doing research.

I keep a very small pocket-sized notepad and pen with me at all times. You should do the same. You never know where you’ll be when a good idea hits you. If you don’t write it down, it may be lost forever.

Here’s a little rule you can adopt: All new ideas must be written down immediately, no exceptions. Use your smartphone, tablet device, notebook or the back of a napkin at a restaurant if you have to.

Respond quickly to any sudden inspiration to write. Look at this as a gift that if you fail to accept will disappear. The urge may not last if you put it off.

And lastly, don’t stop if you get on a roll; go with it until you are exhausted if you can. Don’t question it; just submit to these moments of inspiration.