12 Step Program to Conquer the Blogging Blas

The longer you don’t blog the harder it is to blog, and that’s really how any kind of writing is. You get out of practice to the point that trying to say anything in prose feels stilted and difficult. It’s not a use it or lose it proposition though. You can get back on the blogging bandwagon. There’s hope. You’ll find it in my 12 Step Program for the Blogging Blas:

1. Perfectionism is not an excuse for procrastination. So put a pen and notepad by your keyboard right now. Throughout your workday be on alert for topical tidbits that show some blog post potential. Don’t worry about how you’ll expand on the subject. Just write the idea down and move on. For example, you have a discussion on Twitter that makes you think about something in a different way. Write it down. Or you see something in the news that relates to your product or service. Write it down. Then continue whatever it is you were doing. The ideas will percolate in your subconscious while you do other things. I learned this by accident to be honest but John Edwards also talks about this in his now famous 7DayEbook.
2. At the end of the day, review your list. Anything else come to mind? A fresh angle? Another happening you could expand on in a way that relates to what you do? This step might seem moot if you don’t actually add anything to your list, but just do it anyway. It helps your ideas take “root” in your creative subconscious. Now go to bed or have a brew or do whatever you normally do at the end of the day. And completely forget about your blog and the fact that you can’t think of anything to write about. Think about anything but work in fact. (Yes it can be done.)
3. Repeat 1. and 2. for a few days until you have a messy list of blogging brainstorms. The key here is to trust the process. If you start judging your ideas at this point you’re sunk. Remember, perfectionism is an EXCUSE for doing nothing. And you’re not a nothing-doer. You’re an entrepreneur!
4. Decision time. Here’s the toughest part of the 12 Step Program, so take a deep breath and a big gulp of coffee because you’re gonna need all your druthers for this. Are you ready? PICK ONE TOPIC TO BLOG ABOUT. If you can get comfy with this step you will have overcome the one obstacle that every blogger (and writer) on the planet has struggled with: the “I-must-pick-the-perfect-topic writing block.” And it’s totally self-inflicted. Now aren’t you glad you joined this program?
5. Hone your core message. This doesn’t have to be earth shattering. It should take about 30 seconds. Sum it up on paper in about a sentence, a phrase even, without rereading it 20 times or getting all philosophical about it. Then hop over to your blog and get ready to do some serious typing. Go on. You can do this. You’ve come too far and this is no time to halt progress.
6. Start typing like an idiot. Can’t think of a headline? Too bad. Start writing your post anyway. Can’t think of an introductory paragraph like they taught you in Grade 10? Too bad. Start typing anyway. Hey, if you can’t take the heat get out of the Dashboard. After a few paragraphs you can stop. But don’t stop until you see lots and lots of words on the screen. Joe Vitale (Hypnotic Writing: How to Seduce and Persuade Customers with Only Your Words, 2006) would say here to not look up at the screen as you type. It’s not a bad idea if you’re highly critical of your writing.
7. Writing reality check (but quickly). Once you’ve spewed a bunch of crap your thoughts onto the screen, stop, but only for a moment. Don’t get up for a bathroom break and for the love of God don’t answer the phone or check your email. The urge to do these things is just your procrastination habit talking. Ignore it. Now read what you’ve just written. Is the main idea coherent or did you go off on a tangent somewhere? Cut and paste anything that doesn’t fit into Notepad or Word. You might need it later, maybe even for another blog post!
8. Write your post title, a.k.a. the headline that will get their attention. Even though your blog post is not finished your creative juices are flowing. You’ve begun to expound upon your core message; maybe you’ve even reworked it a bit. This is the ideal time to brainstorm a headline. The other benefit of writing your headline halfway through the writing process is that it will laser focus your writing–and later your editing–from this point on, making for a fab and compelling blog post your readers will appreciate (and link back to).
9. Going with the flow gets you to the finish. Okay, you’re in the home stretch. Chug that coffee and finish your post. Things should be flowing now because you’ve honed your message and have a snappy headline to keep you on track. Truly this is the best part of writing posts. You can feel the big close coming and you know you’re about to share a little piece of blogging goodness with your audience. The important thing to remember here though is not to edit yet. Just get those thoughts down and finish the ditty.

Gratitude Interlude: Pat yourself on the back. You just created some new content from what felt like a big black hole in your brain. Neat huh? If you’re like me, you’ll want to publish this baby right now because you’re pumped and proud. You could just save your work in draft and go take a break. But I don’t recommend that. Too often these drafts stay as drafts. Not what we’re shooting for here. Instead, we’ve got just a little more grunt work to do. But pat yourself on the back one more time. You deserve it.

10. Edit. Read through your post and look for flow of one idea to the next and overall cohesiveness. Do you need to rearrange a few paragraphs? Add back something you cut earlier? Delete some extraneous ideas that distract from your core message? This last one is tough, but I’ve improved many a blog post by deleting my entire opening paragraph. No kidding. (Another tip from Mr. Fire himself.)
11. Proofread. It sounds a little risque but I usually only proofread my blog posts once before publishing. Why? Because (1) it ain’t War and Peace, (2) I want to get the sucker onto the web ASAP, and (3) I’ll never catch all the nit picky mistakes the first go around anyway. If I want to turn my posts into articles for syndication, I’ll hire a Virtual Assistant to extract and proof my posts then.
12. Publish. Ping your post all over the place and reap the rewards of participating in the Twelve Step Program for Bloggers. Feels good to step up, admit you’re an addict (to procrastination) and conquer the blogging blas, doesn’t it?

Repeat the 12 Step Program for the Blogging Blas again and again until it’s habitual as your morning coffee. You’re traffic will grow. You’re sales will grow. You’re brain will grow. And you might even change the world a little.