Random Thoughts (Or What Happens When I'm Feeling Uninspired)

Image provided by Unsplash (unsplash.com) and edited by me.

I really should never talk about how great having a blogging schedule is again.  I should also never say that it helps me easily put together a post and cuts down on the staring-blankly-at-the-screen-hoping-coherent-sentences-about-something-even-remotely-interesting-magically-start-to-appear-in-that-empty-white-space time.  Yes, it's been great so far, but lately?  Lately it has completely failed me.

It started last Wednesday.  I typically try to write at least a couple of blog posts in one sitting and then schedule them to be posted later in the week during the morning or early afternoon.  I wanted to make sure I wrote something on Wednesday evening because my brother-in-law was flying in on Thursday afternoon to stay with us for the weekend, and my blogging schedule forces me to make at least 3 posts each week.  (Well, that's what it's supposed to do, anyway.)

When I looked at the topic I'd written on my schedule, I just felt very "meh" about it.  It's not a bad topic or anything ... In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll use it in the future.  But I just wasn't feeling it at the time.  And, unfortunately, I couldn't come up with anything else off the top of my head ... So I just wrote nothing.

Then life happened and I didn't have even 20 minutes of free time to crank something out before the end of the week, so I was stuck with only 2 posts last week.  (I'm not really complaining, by the way.  I had a lot of fun hanging out with Eric and his family.  It just would have been nice to actually stick to my schedule, especially since I've really been trying to make an effort to post more frequently.)

When I sat down to write today, I was hoping I'd either want to use the topic I passed on last week or that I'd be inspired by the next topic on my list.  Well ... It didn't really work out that way.

So here I am, making an effort to stomp out my writer's block by forcing myself to just write something.  I'm not sure that this is the best method for inspiring myself to come up with a great post, but at least I'm trying.  (And really only succeeding in coming up with a shitty, rambling post ... But whatever.)

I don't get a lot of comments on this blog, but I'd love to start a discussion.  So, if you feel like sharing, please tell me some of your favorite tips and tricks to overcome writer's block.  Do you just sit down and force yourself to put some words on paper (or, in this case, on the screen)?  Do you take a step back and refuse to write until you have something interesting or creative to say?  Or do you do something completely different?

I'd love to know how other people (especially other bloggers!) deal with bouts of writer's block, so hopefully at least a couple of people will feel like sharing their secrets!