Confessions and My So-Called Virtual Life Vol. I
I’m having crazy writer’s block and it’s driving me nuts. I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night with what I thought to be a great blog post only to find that in the morning, ummm not so much; not enough words, too high of a Flesch-Kincaid score. Is it possible to have a Flesch-Kincaid score that’s too low? Random thought I’ll have to research).
My mom gave me the best advice I’ve heard this week as I was headed out to teach my chair aerobics class. She said, “It’s good you have your class today so you can think about something else.”
I felt relieved and much lighter when she said that to me. Funny how it made me more creative in class today even. When I’m teaching as much as I try to prepare choreography, it doesn’t work. It’s comforting, but when I get in class I let the music lead our body movements and they love it.
Although I do get a few…”whew, “I’m tired”, “oh my”, “boy is she going fast.” I love that stuff! If it wasn’t working for them, they wouldn’t keep coming or feel comfortable enough to express themselves in that way.
When you’re staring at a blank page or computer screen and admittedly have writer’s block, do you think sitting at the screen or paper will make a difference?
I’m here to tell you it won’t. You’ll just be frustrated and maybe lose some sleep or a meal along the way.
Maybe it’s just me, but I think we’re trying to please the wrong people. Being more focused on what Google thinks and how Alexa (the ranking website where the lower your score the better) will score us is killing our creativity.
And if we don’t use our creativity as one of my chair aerobics students said today “If you don’t move it, you’ll lose it!” If you had no blog, no website, no business, no idea, no nothing, you’d be another worker living in preparation to die.
Your blog, your website, your business, your idea, it’s a lifeline into who you are. It keeps you on track, focused, and gets you closer to the authentic you that God created.
Imagine that!
It’s a wonderful thing when you can rejoice even when you can’t write a thing. One thing is for sure while my writer’s block may peak it’s ugly head, it will not win. In fact, I know it’s resistance keeping me from you.
Keeping me from making a difference, making you think, and challenging traditions. It knows that if I let my creativity run wild, I’ve got something to say that’s going to be way beyond the cubicle wall or the hustle and bustle of downtown.
I was born to worship, praise, and challenge the thought of going to college and getting a “good” job. Oh no, not me. I jump out on faith everyday and am excited to see the next.
It’s a wild and fun life when you’re able to make money from your computer and it doesn’t matter the amount, there’s a certain rush that comes with it.
Today I got my 3rd affiliate check from Commission Junction and it’s $107.59. I got an email the other day from PayLoadz that I made a sale and earned $4.49, all from writing.
It may not be a lot to you, but for every multimillionaire online, they had to start from some where. For every little accomplishment that comes it’s leading to something BIG, BIG, BIG!
Take time today and appreciate the small while in expectation for the BIG!
Oh and if you’re still trying to write for Google, last I checked, Google can’t tweet, like, comment, or make a purchase on your blog. Yes, it can push you to the top of the ranking, but it can’t click on your link or do any of the other call to actions we want to occur.
So why are we playing the Google game? And some even considering it a “friend.” Absolutely not! Google ain’t your friend. It’s not your foe, but “friend?” Way too strong.
Your readers are the most important people when it comes to your website. If they never came to visit you, your blog would be invisible and Google would turn its back on it. Your readers are the ones that get you noticed by Google and Alexa.
Focus on the value of your content and the search engines and other site ranking websites won’t get enough of you. You won’t be able to keep Google from looking at you.
Change the focus on your website to your readers. Let them know you appreciate them by responding to their comments. They did take the time to give your site some lovin’, didn’t they?
Continue knocking the socks off your readers with unbelievable content and value, before you know it, you’ll be the most popular site on the block. Then Google will sing your praises with high rankings and Alexa will give you low marks, which are great in her world.
If you’ve been kissing up to Google and not your reader’s, if you’ve got any readers left, go and apologize to them. A free gift would be nice too;)
I’d better get back to my pad and pen, I’ve got a blog post to write.
Much love,
Does any of this resonate with you? Please do share in the comments below, I give love back:)
It is important to serve the people that read and not the Google š Thanks Tiffany for sharing your thoughts on this subject!
My pleasure:) Thanks so much Solvita!
We all have our frustrations. I enjoyed reading through your process. I try to keep a list of ideas for when I have “idea block” for my article. If the article isn’t flowing I switch to something else as well.
Lately I’ve been getting good ideas in the car. So I just record them on my iphone (verbally) and they are there for me later.
Thanks Lori! Such a great idea to keep a running list of ideas. My car is also where various ideas come. It’s amazing how creative I am when I’m sitting in the car:)
Nice job on getting paid!
Thanks AJ! I’m headed to the bank today:)
You know, I like to write my aticles on the day that my article is posted. That day I usualy have some idea and I go right after it. So far, this method has served me well. I must say I haven’t thought about google and alexa that much; I probably should a little more… but if there is a keyword that I want to use I reread my articcle and find a place to put it. That way my own way of writing will not be the underdog. Any way, that is how I do it. Thanks so much for opening up this topic; it is a great discusssion topic!
Hi Olga, so true. It’s a great idea to keep writing while you’re in writing mode. Nothing wrong with adding the keywords after the fact. Unfortunately, some blog posts are all about the keywords and not valuable content.
I get writer’s block a lot too! Sometimes it helps me to write about something else – ANYTHING else, even something that I hadn’t even set out to write about, or maybe a journal entry… That act of just physically expelling words from my brain will sometimes spur inspiration to expel the right ones!! Hope this helps a little. š
Laurie
Thanks Laurie! This is a great idea and definitely helpful for all of us.
Well Ms. Tiffany,
My oh my where do I begin. This was such a great post. Coming from you, who has most of the answers (yes she is our VA) I was surprised to read that you get writers block. However, for someone who had no idea, nothing to share or write…this is exactly what I needed to hear today. Not romancing Google and Alexa, but showering our readers, followers, family and friends with quality life lessons, anti-aging, fiery grandma stuff will transcend them into my life, a peek into the real Carla so to speak. Thank you seems impersonal, Tiffany yet a great big one is coming your WAY!
Carla
http://CarlaJGardiner.com
p.s. thank you for the beautiful new look on our site
Thanks so, so much Carla! It’s such a pleasure serving you:) I’m super excited about what’s ahead. Wow, how about that? This blog post was a combination of what I’d written one early, early morning and my thoughts being frustrated in writing. God is in everything, even my rant about not being able to write and then realizing I did have something to say. Haha! love it:)
Good stuff! I’ll rememeber this article when that writer’s block tries to rear it’s ugly head!
Thanks so much Phil!