Blank document. Blinking cursor. Silent keyboard. Fifteen minutes later, the situation remains the same. By the time 30 minutes has lapsed and you’re either still staring at blank screen, or maybe a few jumbled sentences. Then as your deadline looms ever closer your palms are likely beginning to sweat. How can you avoid the dreaded "sweaty writers palm" and meet the deadlines you're aiming for?

It's tempting to give in as a new blogger or writer and pull the “ignorance is bliss” card, but you don’t want to do that. Imagination can only fend off reality for a short while. Your deadlines won’t disappear and worse if you're starting out writing and trying to maintain your own blog then not meeting your goals wont help your new blog progress either.

So take a deep breath and take a pen and paper. Or if you like, you can type directly into your computer, laptop or tablet as many prefer. Try these writing exercises that will help boost your productivity.

Write a to-do list

This is probably not something you would expect as a writing exercise but it works. Sometimes, when you have so many things to do like articles to write, your thoughts can become chaotic and your mind shuts down at the very moment you need to write the most. It helps to have a list of things that need to be done so you can get organised. When you take note of every little task, including deadlines, then it’s easier to determine top priority tasks you should focus on.  

Write Morning pages

Morning pages is the term coined by creative guru Julia Cameron for a writing exercise that she introduced in her book, The Artist’s Way. This exercise literally involves filling up pages first thing in the morning. If you’re put off by the idea of writing more--as if you need more work to do--here’s how it’s different. When you fill up three sides of paper with your writing, you don’t have to think hard about what words to use or topics to talk about. Morning pages utilises writing through a free flow stream of consciousness, which you do at the start of your day. You can write about anything that is on your mind from worries to rants to dreams and plans. It could be complete nonsense and yet after you’re done, you’ll realise that there’s a sense of liberation after airing out all your thoughts onto paper. And when your mind is clear and free from worries, you’re ready to get productive and finally get some work done. 

Write Blog/Article Title Variations

There are those days where the content is easier to write than the title. During times when ideas are hard to come by, start out by writing the title but don’t just stop at one title. Make two, three or ten variations so you can choose different approaches to writing your article. With the available choices, it’s easier to know which direction your content is going and which angle is more interesting. There are blog title generators online that you can use but note that they all sound similar. Rather, your title sounds like every other article on the net. Use them as guides or clues to point you to the right decision or challenge yourself to create your own variety. 

Write something fun

Sometimes, writers experience burnout from writing too much, the creative juices bled dry after crunching out one article after another. To avoid this, short breaks are essential in sustaining creativity. When you’re feeling stumped about what to write next, take a short break and write something fun. Be it a poem, a short story or a blog post, write something that you care about. When you’re done with this short creative writing exercise, you’ll find that you’ll be in a much better mood to start working on your articles for the day.

Write using story prompts

When even writing something fun becomes hard, it’s a warning sign that your burnout feelings are worse than you thought. To get you through this hurdle, make use of writing prompts. If you’re fond of reading novels, you’ll be happy to know that even novelists make use of writing prompts when they’re stuck. A writing prompt might even have led to an idea for one of their novels. Your plans of writing a novel might not be in the near future, but a little daily writing practice goes a long way to prepare you.

For fiction writers, storywonk has a tongue-in-cheek story generator that can give you fun ideas about what you can write about. If you don’t like the story prompt, just click on the refresh button on your browser to get a new one. For those who feel they don’t have enough time for a writing exercise, award-winning literary journalist and novelist C.M. Mayo has a workshop page for creative writers with daily 5-minute writing exercises that are both fun and useful. Remember to use an online timer to help you keep track of time.

Write while standing

The best way to do this is to have a standing desk. When you’re sitting for long hours, the tendency is that you’ll feel comfortable, so much that you might even feel lazy and get distracted. When you write while standing, you’ll be freed from the distractions of your comfy chair and the temptation to sleep. Another plus factor about writing with a standing desk? It alleviates the health risks that come with sitting for long periods of time. Just make sure not to stand too long, as it also has its own health risks the same with sitting. Alternate between standing and sitting and throw in a couple of mini breaks to stretch your muscles, maybe have coffee, take a power nap, or anything that will help give your legs and brain a short breather.

Write nonstop for one hour

One of the problems that writers often encounter is distractions, especially when they’re online. The internet is a treasure trove of links waiting to be clicked and before you know it, your planned 15-minute break has stretched to 30 minutes just by clicking on one cute kitty video after another. To develop more discipline when it comes to writing, try writing nonstop for an hour after shutting out distractions. If you find it hard to sustain, you can start in chunks like writing nonstop for 15 minutes. See how much you can write in that short amount of time. Then challenge yourself to write double or more in 30 minutes. Keep incrementing the time until it reaches an hour. By the time it does, you’ll realize that your focus has improved with this simple writing exercise. 

Write 1000 Words a Day

A thousand words seems like a mouthful of words to write. But if you think a thousand words a day is hard, imagine novelists who need to write eight to ten thousand words per day. Now that is something. Writing 1000 words per day is doable. Use subheadings to make it easier to organize your ideas and make them flow. Do research to help fill in the content of your article. The trick to writing 1000 words per day is doing it everyday until it becomes a habit. The more you write, the easier it is for the words to come. Don’t be surprised if you suddenly find yourself writing more than a thousand words in a day.

What other writing exercises do you think should be on this list?

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About the Author

 

About Camille

Camille Marie Marcon is a creative writer who likes to wander and wonder a lot—in either order. She thrives on coffee, chocolate, travel, stimulating conversations, reel encounters, and page turners. When she’s not trying to pen that elusive masterpiece, she’s stalking the latest promo fares and planning her next trip out of the country.