For someone who’s always banging on about being organised and completing tasks, it may seem odd to say leave a job half done, but it’s not as crazy as it sounds and it’s an approach I use daily in my article writing to avoid suffering from writers block.

Now I know that some authors are very sceptical about writers block, believing that it is a myth and an excuse for laziness. I don’t agree.

I absolutely love article writing and I have a large collection of ideas to write about. (At the last count over 1,000). However, a few months ago there were days when despite having the topic, the keyword, the article outline and any relevant research data my brain felt completely paralysed. I would type a sentence and then delete it because it was rubbish.

It didn’t matter how hard I tried nothing would flow and I could barely pull a paragraph together let alone an article. Two and a half weeks went by and I didn’t manage to complete a single article or blog. (I normally average 7 a day).

Eventually I managed to write a blog, but it took me about three hours which was painful when I’m used to writing one in about 30 minutes (including the editing). Although I was glad to be writing again, I wondered what I could do to stop it happening again or whether I’d just have to grateful that my writing drought had only lasted for two and half weeks.

But then suddenly I came across a tip suggested by someone I follow on twitter and bingo! The problem was solved.

He suggested that you should always leave an article half written at the end of the day (even if you want to finish it). The idea is that when you pick it up the next day you know what you’re writing about and as you have a half written article to read, you find it easy to start writing again. By the time you’ve finished that article your mind will be accustomed to the process of writing again and the next one should be easier.

Now it may not work for everyone and he didn’t suggest it would. The original idea wasn’t his own but one he adapted from a similar idea from Ernest Hemmingway (American Author and Journalist 1899 – 1961). However, I could see the logic behind the idea and thought I would give it a go.

For me it works a treat. Now I always leave that one article half written even if I find it’s flowing well. The next day I pick up my half written article and generally it takes me about 15 minutes to finish writing and editing. By the time that article is done and dusted I’m in the groove of writing again and away I go.

My writers block real or imagined seems to be a thing of the past and I’m very grateful for that. If you get stuck I suggest you give it a go.