One thing I’ve discovered in these last few years is when to think and when to stop.
If you’ve already thought about something and it still makes no sense to you, then stop. You’re only causing unnecessary brain cramping.
For example: I research. And I research. And I research some more. When it comes to a simple SEO article on shoes, or coats or even wedding rings, there is only so much researching you can do before you realize… You’ve researched it to death. The only thing you have to show in that case is that, well, you wasted a lot of writing time. When you spend all your time looking up information or gathering research and no time writing, by the time you come to the writing process, you may be stuck wondering, “What was I going to put in this article again?”
Yea. It happens. It’s frustrating and you need to stop. Now.
However, I worry too. I don’t want my piece on the Internet to sound like someone else’s. I want it to be mine, original and unique. All writers should be like that – if they aren’t, I suggest finding new colleagues. The thing with originality is that when you come across articles on the Internet so many of them sound chewed over a million times that it can be daunting to make yours like no other. That’s where your voice and your style of writing come in.
Facts are facts. There is no way around it. If you head to the library and take out four books on parenting, odds are that 80 percent of the books are going to sound the same and offer the same advice. The other 20 percent is going to have the author’s unique voice so imbedded in it that unless you are a book critic or reviewer, the information is going to sound different to you.
Why? Because of the way the information is presented and told. Because of the expert opinion and fact gathering skills of the author(s).
Sometimes, it’s not in the information you write, yes that is important but it’s in the WAY you write it that makes it your own.
I often hit this point and then I tend to get a bit stressed out, thinking that I´m not going to be able to write this article after all!
But it always works out in the end, when I relax and just go with the flow.
Absolutely you need to relax! I have to get up and walk away sometimes. Your eyes and brain just need a break sometimes, you know?
Sometimes just stepping back can help.
Hang in there.
Perfectionism is a waste of time. Or so I keep telling myself. I try really hard to limit the time involvement, but I know exactly what you mean. You want your words to be ‘just so.’ Me too.