Thinking of Blogging? Freewriting Makes it Easy
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at 06:53AM 
Have you ever heard music so amazing your brain, um, stops thinking?
I have.
Just listen to Neil Peart’s drumming.
Canadian rockers Rush have counted on Neil’s drumming to be their musical backbone for almost 40 years.
But there’s one thing most people don’t’ know about Neil
Neil prepares for every concert by practicing his chops for 30 minutes.
Every. Single. Concert.
His practice routine isn’t legendary but his shows in front of 30,000 fans are.
I know. You’re not Neil Peart and you’re not performing for 30,000 fans.
You just want to get on with your blogging.
But, hey, this practicing thing Neil does can apply to “soon-to-be-bloggers,” too.
Did you know you can “warm up” your blogging skills by practicing first?
How do you practice writing for your blog?
You practice writing for your blog by freewriting.
What do you mean, “freewriting?”
Freewriting is “thinking onto paper.” That’s what writer and positioning strategist, Mark Levy says. Mark should know. He wrote a book on the power of freewriting.
Think of freewriting as “free form” writing.
If you think you can’t write something on the more formal side of things, just start free forming it.
Write whatever comes to mind. You don’t need a goal or a reason to write. Just write whatever you’re thinking. Cool, huh?
So why is freewriting helpful for bloggers-to-be?
Blogging involves lots of writing. Freewriting boosts your confidence in your writing skills. Saying you will start blogging is a mighty goal. Heck, you’ll get that blog registered in five minutes, and then what? Stare at a blank screen? Yup. It happens. A lot.
How do you beat staring at your new shiny blog all day long?
Chunk down the blogging process.
Chunk down the blogging process. There’s no reason to go all-out at once. Warm yourself up to the new art of blogging through the old art of freewriting. This way, you won’t “freeze” when your blog goes live.
What prevents most people from starting to blog?
Often, it’s the fear of writing.
Sure, some folks fear the “technology factor.” But not having the confidence to write is an even bigger fear. Freewriting “warms up” your writing because the trick in freewriting is to write quickly!
How quickly should you write?
Mark Levy has a great way to think about this.
If you normally write at 5 mph, freewrite at 6 mph.
You want to write fast enough so you don’t think about editing your words. Perfection ain’t what you’re after. What you’re after is boosting your writing confidence.
OK. Let’s get this show on the road
To get started freewriting, all you need is some paper and a pen. A computer is fine, if you prefer it to paper. If you have a timer, you’ll find that helpful as well.
Set the timer for 10 minutes.
Hit “start” and begin writing. Don’t worry about that inner voice you hear that says “this is stupid,” “what should I say next?” and all that jazz.
The object is to blitz through those objections
And get into the habit of writing. If you enjoy the practice, you can extend the time to 15 or 20 minutes.
Besides boosting your writing confidence levels, you’ll reap the added benefit of generating ideas for your blog. Heh.
You might say this whole freewriting thing is for the birds
“Hey, who cares about freewriting? I just want to get my blog cookin’.”
Many bloggers create a blog then quit. Quitting frequently happens from a lack of confidence and a lack of ideas. Freewriting addresses both of these concerns.
Blogging is a snap with freewriting
Freewriting is a lost technique that soon-to-be bloggers can recover to increase their writing confidence. Freewriting is:
- Free
- Fast
- Intuitive
- Private
- Confidence building
- A great way to build up a reservoir of ideas for future blog articles
Go ahead and pretend you’re a rock star. Just remember to practice before you hit the stage.
For more tips on freewriting, check out my Mark Levy interview on solving problems with freewriting.
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