I Have Nothing to Say!
Overcoming The Fear Of Writing
By Penny Graham
3rd September 2003
Penny
believes three important things are needed for online
success -honesty, motivation, and willingness to help
others. She is owner of
http://www.Insightful-info.com that provides online
business resources to help people make their business an
online success. She can be contacted at
editor@insightful-info.com.
You
have worked hard on your business and now the time has come.
You keep reading that you should do it and all the benefits
of it, but the thought terrifies you! You've been putting it
off, but eventually you know you are going to have to do it.
Okay so today is the day, after all nothing is being done
putting it off and your fear certainly isn't getting any
smaller. So this it, you are psyched and ready, poised with
pen in hand or computer in front of you wait...and wait...
You discover you only have one thought in your head at this
moment "I have nothing to say!" You were afraid of this. How
are you suppose to write any articles when your mind goes
completely blank at the thought of it? Ok not completely
blank, you have thoughts, but not the kind that are going to
actually help you. These thoughts are your Fears and reasons
why you think you can't do this.
Have
you ever felt this way when you think about writing that
first article? If so, I hope this article will help you
overcome your Fear of writing.
The
Biggest Fear - "I have nothing to say!"
You
never know when a great idea will come to you. Keep a pen
and paper handy. When you get an idea about what you want to
say then Write it down. I like keeping a
word processing window open so I can jot it down there
under notes. Don't skip writing the idea down thinking you
will remember it cause most of the time you won't. If you
start doing this, you can go back, look at those ideas, and
be surprised how you can put them together to form an
article.
Read
other people's articles on "how to" write articles and this
will give you something to go by and you won't feel
completely lost when you start to write yours. You don't
have to be an expert on something before you write an
article. Just write about something you have experience in.
Maybe you have experience in
web design, so write about what you have learned. Write
like you are talking to a friend. Wisdom and knowledge come
through experience and that's all you are writing about is
your own experience and what you've learned. Remember your
first article doesn't have to be long. Short articles
(300-800 words) can be helpful, if the material is clear,
concise, and to the point.
"I'm Not A Writer!"
Guess
what, you don't have to be a great writer to do this. The
point is to keep your writing in a friendly conversational
tone. You want to write to the readers not at them. Decide
what you want to write then write like you are talking to a
friend. Don't worry about being perfect or editing at this
point. You will go back, proofread, and edit later. The
important thing is to get the words and ideas on paper-Just
do it.
"I
Wrote It Down And It Sucks!"
Okay
so you have the words on paper and you hate it. Remember you
are not required to be perfect and I bet a lot of your
dislike for your writing is your Fear talking. At this
point, you proofread what you wrote, make corrections in
spelling and grammar as best as you can. The main point is
to be clear and organized in what you say. Check your
article for repetition. If you found you have repeated a
phrase unnecessarily then take the extra wording out.
Get
another opinion Read it out loud or have a friend read it.
See if your writing makes sense to them and they understand
what you are writing about. This will help you in the
proofing department.
"What If No One Likes It?"
Ok not
everyone is going to like it, but there will be people who
do. You will never know unless you try. We are far more
critical about ourselves than other people are on us.
Somewhere some one is going to find what you have to say
helpful. I think of the articles I have read that have
helped me. It was great to read about someone who already
went through what I am going through now. At least I knew
that I wasn't the only one that was going through the
frustrations. I also learned from other people's mistakes,
what pitfalls to avoid, saving me some problems in the
future.
Don't
write simply for business reasons, but write from the heart
with the intention of wanting to help someone else. If your
article has helped or motivated one person in any way, then
your writing has served a purpose. Yes there are benefits
like name branding, credibility, free advertising, etc, but
the thing that counts the most, is you wrote from the heart
and someone was helped. Remember we all learn from each
other and we are all in this together.
Okay
now your article is done. Put your resource box at the end.
Now go get it published. Ezines and
websites are always looking for new content and there is
someone out there waiting to learn from you! An excellent
place to start is at http://www.Marketing-Seek.com. This
website is for new writers to submit and publish their
articles. Also has a great resource for you to check out on
other places to submit your article.
Copyright © 2002 Penny Graham, All Rights
Reserved.
Author Information:
Penny Graham
editor@insightful-info.com
http://www.Insightful-info.com
This article may freely be reproduced provided the following
resource box is included intact at the end of the article.
Contact the author Penny Graham (editor@insightful-info.com) |