I think we pressure ourselves into brilliance. We think, “My ex will read this” and “My boss may find this,” and we want to be impressive. It is at those times that we become paralyzed with a fear of perfection. I think some solutions to this are a range of things: deep breaths, writing in a public place (so we can realize that hey, we’re all human), and of course remembering we are unique sparkly snowflakes or somesuch. Works for me.

Thanks for your comment Chris.

I think most writers are guilty of thinking too much … it’s both our gift and curse. I’d even go as far as saying that, for some writers, training yourself to avoid over-thinking is part of what writing is all about (at least on a technical level maybe) – no matter the medium.

I recently cruised through the Bahamas, where I was forced to unplug from all tech, and quickly found myself at a loss for post ideas during my return. Breaking the flow of your work can be both a good and bad thing … depending on how well you can jump back into where you left off.

I found that the best way to overcome this block due to break in flow was to simply pick up a few magazines at the airport — I don’t think it’s necessary that they need to be in your niche. Reading articles and interviews in print was something I don’t usually do, so it was a nice change in how I was consuming content.

Overall, I think bloggers can avoid this block by keeping at it — write everyday. Once you break the flow, it’s very difficult to find it again.