Overcome Writer's Block - Fast and Effective Ways to Get the Creative Juices Flowing

The dreaded writer's block hits every writer from time-to-time. And it always feels at the time, like you're never going to come up with an idea again. This is a common feeling that many writers experience once in a while. However, by using the techniques mentioned in this article, it should free you from your writer's block quickly.

We tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to writing. We get pigeon-hold, for lack of a better term, and often feel like we have to try to come up with ideas for that particular category. But here is where the oft overused term "think outside the box" can really help. Think of your business in a different way. Ask others, not connected with your business, what their thoughts are about the niche you are in. This can be an incredibly freeing experience.

Ask your readers what kind of information they would like to read about and then provide it. You can often accomplish this using surveys. Sometimes, you may need to give them incentives in order to fill out the surveys. Such things as free reports, or some other free thing that doesn't cost too much money (like a membership to your site, etc.) usually works well. There is nothing more valuable then feedback from customers and they will love you for providing them what they asked for.

Always carry a small notepad and pencil (or pen) wherever you go. If you have a smartphone, most of them have a notepad application built in or you can usually get a free one from the app store. Anytime you get an idea that pops into your head jot it down no matter what. It may even seem like a crazy or stupid idea at the time, but sometimes when you revisit it you'll see it a different way and it becomes golden.

Interviews are another great way to get people to discuss aspects of your business that you would not have previously thought of. This one's a bit trickier in that you may not know a lot of people that it would be worthwhile interviewing. But even interviewing friends or family members can yield interesting results. Besides, the interview format when writing it down is very different than say, an article. This very difference can help to ward off writer's block.

Guest posting is becoming huge on the internet. And find someone who has some decent credibility and you're well on your way to diffusing the block in your writing ideas. It also doesn't hurt at all to have someone credible writing a post for you as it gives your site/business some credibility. Make sure you take the steps to give necessary credit.

This is one of those secrets that experience writer's know about but newcomers often do not. Use writer prompts, or write prompts depending on who you ask. Essentially, these are sentences (or sometimes phrases) that form the basis of a body of writing. It usually is the concept and then writers expand from that concept. Sometimes, you won't find one that fits every situation but there are plenty out there. Simply do a search in your favorite search engine for the concept writer prompts. You'll get plenty of results.

If you have been online for any length of time and especially if you have worked with online marketing, you'll no doubt know about Google's keyword planner. It's free to use and it can essentially give ideas for what to write about. You put in a base keyword and then let it do its magic. Also, if you've ever noticed while in the standard Google search, once you begin typing Google lists a whole bunch of keywords. This is known as Google Suggest and can be a great way to pan for ideas for your writing.

Writer's block can usually be squelched quickly if you take the steps outlined in this article and apply them. These steps also can open up avenues never explored before which can lead to some very interesting and worthwhile measures that can only improve your business. Even if your business is not writing, several of these steps can be used to enhance your existing business, especially when it comes to the content you put on your website.

What if I told you there was a tool that was a bit like a writing prompt type of thing but does it like it's on steroids? This tool that I have come across (and use all the time now) is sure to break you away from writer's block. It should be the first thing you use when you happen to have writer's block. In fact, you should use this tool all the time anyway.

The way it works is you pick a category and the website/software gives you a template. Then for each paragraph, it gives you a full sentence or two (sometimes three) and you just simply rewrite the sentence. I'm telling you, it's really the fastest way to get an article written.

The website is Jiffy Articles and it is a fantastic service. It's very intuitive and easy to use. The only two drawbacks that I saw is when you publish your article it is no longer in their database so make sure you save it somewhere (like your blog) and the other drawback is that they haven't updated their templates in a while. But there are over 1800 templates and if you were to use a template that you already used, you would still be writing a brand new article.