Writer’s Block? Try a Brain Dump

You have an article due today and you are drawing a blank…

It’s called writer’s block. It happens to everyone. How do you get the thoughts of the world out of your head and tap into the brain power needed to complete your article?

I have two methods that have proven effective for me. First, I do what I call a brain dump. Grab a spiral notebook or open a word document and just start listing things. It doesn’t matter the order or reason they come to mind. Just start a list. You will be surprised at what is taking up brain power! Once you have dumped your brain onto a piece of paper you will actually feel less stressed.

Several of my mentors over the years share that they use this method at the end of every day. They just sit and write a list of what pops in their head. This list is usually the things that are pressing on them or things they need to get done, however it also serves as a basis for many of the topics they write about over the next months.

The second method is what I call warm up writing. These are short articles about things that require no research or minimal information. For me these topics are things about cooking, shopping, or sharing some antic my family has just gone through; and there are many of those with seven children!

But if you are looking for ideas for, here are several thoughts from a couple of my blogger friends:

Liz from Womanly Woman says:
I go to Google Trends to find topics that are trending.
I look at what is trending on Facebook and Twitter and write about it.
I go to my Google Analytics and look at what people have been reading and write another post

Gina over at Raising 2 Tweens says:
Think about my day, or the last few days and what I have encountered… I might have heard something funny on the radio or the kids may have done something unusual… I may have tried a new product that I want to share….

What about you? What gets your brain cleared so you can focus on the task at hand?