Symptom #1  You just don’t feel like writing

Remedy:  Schedule blocks of time specifically for writing and sit at the keyboard at the appointed hour no matter what.  Offer yourself a reward to reinforce your commitment such as “after I knock out this article I’m going to the gym/the store/the park”.

Symptom #2:  Experiencing stress or anxiety when trying to write

Remedy:  Get away from the computer for a few minutes.  Stretch, do jumping jacks, grab a snack, just give yourself a short break.  Examine the environment where you are writing.  Are you sitting at a messy desk?  Is there adequate lighting, a comfy chair, the computer at an ergonomic height?  When you look past the monitor what do you see? Is the the room supporting your creativity or is it challenging your concentration?  If possible, change whatever is distracting you.

Symptom #3:  Getting tired when  you sit down to write

Remedy:  Consider your natural body rhythms.  What time of day are you most energized?  Some people can be wildly productive early in the morning while others prefer working at night.  Figure out when you get your best writing done and schedule accordingly.

Symptom #4:  Not finishing a writing project

Remedy:  If you are working on an e-book or writing a novel, you might benefit by breaking down the chapters into manageable blocks of time.  Find yourself stuck on what to write for the next chapter?  Try starting at the end of the book and write backwards.  Having a vision of the project completed is another suggestion.

Need more assistance?  Check out the War of Art, by Steven Pressfield, highly recommended for getting beyond resistance and realizing your creative dreams.

Fifteen years ago Bill Watterson quit drawing the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. I loved this comic strip. I I owned a couple of the Calvin and Hobbes books at the peak of their popularity.

Back then I was newly married. My bride and I moved into a townhouse on the edge of the San Antonio city limits. This was our first married “home.”

The small cluster of townhomes we lived in were surrounded by scrub brush and undeveloped land. Kittens and unwanted pets were frequently abandoned on the lonely stretch of road outside our complex. One of those little kittens adopted us.  We named him “Calvin” after the little boy in Bill Watterson’s comic strip.

So why was this comic strip so endearing? Why would people name their pets after the characters in the strip?

Here’s what Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes says:  

“I just tried to write honestly, and I tried to make this little world fun to look at, so people would take the time to read it. That was the full extent of my concern.“

So many people write blogs showing people they’re an expert. “I’m your go-to-guy or gal” for “this expertise” or “that service.” We work hard producing blog posts and materials telling the world, “I know what I’m talking about.” “You should use my services.”

But through all our chest thumping and all our clatter and all our trumpet blaring, we sometimes lose our humanity.

The Calvin and Hobbes comic strip was very human. The stories were real. They rang true. Bill Watterson worked at writing and drawing honestly. That is why I believe the comic strip was so successful.

When you write your blog are you telling the quiet personal stories that illustrate your points? Are you telling people how you screwed up and the lesson you learned from your screw up? Are you laughing at yourself in your blog posts? Are you letting people know who you are personally? Are you sharing yourself?

Be bold fellow bloggers. Share your personal stories. Write “honestly.” Show your humanity in your blog.

This Monday, Cleveland’s Plain Dealer printed an interview with Bill Watterson. The interview inspired this post. You’re able to read the interview here.

Identification of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOTs) involved is essential for deriving steps in the process of planning

SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the(SWOTs) involved in a project and/or business venture including blogs.

SWOT’s themselves are associated with two categories:

1. Internal factors : Strengths and Weaknesses
2. External factors : Opportunities and Threats

SWOT Analysis as applied to Blogging

Internal Factors: Internal factors in this case are mainly related to skills that a blogger possesses that will help them achieve the defined objective.
While analyzing internal factors identify all skills that are required and those that other successful bloggers possesses which help them in blogging. Among them the skills that you posses acts as strength while others acts as weaknesses (area where you need to develop your blogging skills).
One hypothetical individual, for example, might see him/herself as having the following blogging strengths and weaknesses:

• Strength:

1. Personal exposure to details or rare views involved  in your topic of your discussion
2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) skills.
3. Technical expertise (knowledge of html, database, RSS etc.)
4. Design skills (web designing, Photoshop etc).
5. Creativity and Innovation

• Weaknesses:

1. Lack of blogging knowledge
2. Previous failure or lack of knowledge about online marketing.
3. Writing skills

External Factors: External Factors are related the environment in which the blogger exists.  Certainly, some of these external factors may be the product of  a blogger’s respective, customized strategy.  Others may be universal to all bloggers and beyond an individual blogger’s control. One hypothetical individual might perceive his/her blogging  as confronting the following opportunities and threats:

• Opportunities:

1. Identifying and exploiting new trends in blogosphere.
2. Joining a new network of people (influential)
3. Exploiting knowledge and ideas of your existing network (feedbacks and suggestions)

• Threats:

1. SEO Problem (change in blog ranking criteria on search engines)
2. Lack of time to blog (very common due to work pressure)
3. Technical problems (i.e. closing / ineffectiveness of a web community, server down time)
4. Change in govt. policies. Restriction on publishing certain facts online i.e. media restrictions (e.g. media and internet restriction laid down by China) may be beneficial for those countries and bloggers need to be aware of them so that they don’t violate certain rules

Keep in mind that the individual factors composing SWOT — Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats — may themselves lead to generation of additional beneficial blogging strategies.  So it is important not to dismiss factors until the elements of each are reviewed thoroughly. Use SWOT to meet your blog’s objectives!