The Writing Mindset

Each day is full of things to write about.  Your conversations, your work, your thoughts and your challenges,  Why is it so often difficult to think of something to write about when you face your blog?

In order to write, you need three important things. First, you need to believe that your own life is worth writing about. In order to do that, it sometimes helps to think of your life as a movie.  Your family, friends and co-workers? Those are the main characters. Your goals? That's the main plot. Your challenges? Those are the dramatic scenes.Your ideas and thoughts? Those are the narration that tie it all together. Remember the Mr. Putter approach: Everyday life is worth writing about.

Second, you need to set aside time to develop the habit of thinking about transferring concepts onto paper - in this case, your blog. That requires some discipline and actually sitting and feeling a bit stuck. It also requires some patience and re-writing, because after you write something down, you will probably find ways to improve it.  Write it, then read it aloud. Is that what you wanted to say?

Third, you have to have a desire to communicate with others.  Your blog is about you, for others to read. Your speaking style says a lot about who you are; you can rely on your tone of voice your smile and body language to convey your meaning and portray who you are.  With writing, you are much more alone with your thoughts. Writing is just you and the words. Playing with words, finding the right word or phrase, and struggling with ideas. That is part of the process.  Computers make it easy to edit. But first, you have to write.