It’s amazing how much a change of routine can bring a person out of a slump.

Just think of all the times you’ve ever hit a creative block: you either kept at it, writing something — anything — until the grueling end (probably because you had to), or you changed your approach and revitalized yourself in the process.

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If that’s true (and it is), the same can be said of that mythological beast known as writer’s block.

A good routine keeps you efficient and organized. As a writer, having a schedule and maintaining goals are particularly good ideas, but there’s a point at which too much planning and organizing and, indeed, repetition will turn what should be a creative endeavor into a mundane task.

What’s more, if you ever face writer’s block, the last thing you should do is continue on in the same way you began. Take a break, change the scenery, look for new and interesting ways to accomplish your writing. But don’t expect to make progress using the same approach that brought you into your slump to begin with.

How to mix things up

• A little change of scenery goes a long way. Write in a new location or at a different time of day. Use a different word processor, or break out the old typewriter (I have two buried around here somewhere). If you’re a blogger, change your theme.

• It’s okay to chill for a while. You can’t force creativity. You can try, but you’ll just end up with something less than honest. Call a time-out, work on something else, read a book, watch a movie. Invest in some Rollerblades.

• Sometimes, you just have to scrap it. If you find yourself stuck in the middle of a writing assignment (or whatever you happen to be working on), save what you’ve written and put it aside. Start over. Approach your idea from another perspective — try beginning in the middle, or writing your conclusion or ending first.

• Looking at things in a different light makes a world of…difference? As I mentioned in my previous post, sometimes our perception of what we’re writing can have a negative effect on our ability. If you see something as work, you’re more likely to find it grinding or boring. However, if you view what you’re doing as fun, entertaining, or simply meaningful (or, if you want, unimportant), writing will be much easier. Consider how you feel about what you’re writing, and if you find yourself not enjoying it, take a real look at why.

As you can see (unless you’re reading this in a feed, feed-reader!), I’ve recently switched themes at The Writer’s Pulse. This is partly because the last theme was less than suitable for the blogginess of my blog (it was technically meant for magazines), but mostly because I needed something fresh to get myself started again, something new. It has definitely helped.

And sorry for any bugs along the way…like the month-old article that got sent out to all my e-mail subscribers yesterday.

It happens.

Comment like you mean it:

When you find yourself struggling for ideas, or caught in the middle of your writing, what do you do for inspiration?

Bonus question: what’s your favorite species of dinosaur?

It’s easy to do something you don’t care about. Like playing an unranked match of Battlefield: Bad Company — since you’re not worried about losing, chances are you won’t buckle under the pressure, find yourself alone at an enemy base, and get knifed in the back while sneaking away through a group of bushes behind a farm shed.

More to the point, Sean D’Souza over at Copyblogger wrote an article last Monday which questioned why it’s so easy to write an e-mail and yet (sometimes) so hard to get any real work done.

“…we don’t struggle to write an email.
We don’t write, re-write, re-think and then write something boring.

Our emails are crisp. They have flow. And ebb.
They often have a storyline.
Drama creeps in inevitably.
And the email keeps the attention of the reader.

So if we examine the issue closer, it’s not that you can’t write.
It’s that when put in the spot to write something like an article or a sales letter…
That’s when you freeze.”

- 3 Tips to Make Writing Less of a Struggle

Writing is like any other activity: if you concentrate too hard, if you try to be too perfect, you’re only setting yourself up for failure. We shouldn’t bother ourselves with consequences or needless pressure, because great writing is free and natural, unhindered by a fear of failure or a desire for success.

So, the next time you sit down to write something — anything — just remember the old adage printed on that wholly remarkable book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

Don’t panic.

New research from the National Survey of Student Engagement reveals that writing improves cognitive and learning abilities among college students.

“When courses provide extensive, intellectually challenging writing activities, the NSSE report found, students engage in a variety of positive activities. They are more likely to analyze, synthesize and integrate ideas from various sources. They grapple more with course ideas both in and out of the classroom. And they report greater personal, social, practical and academic development.”

While this probably doesn’t surprise you, it’s just one more reason to keep writing.

USA Today: Writing leads to deeper learning, study finds

Now, one article comes to mind, and it’s caused me more trouble (and brought more visitors) than all the other content on this blog combined.

51 Ways To Improve Your Writing has snagged over 10,000 hits since it was posted in May. It’s received harsh criticisms, it’s been plagiarized, it’s been recommended by other bloggers. That one article has been put through the ringer, let me tell you, and it hasn’t always been pleasant.

I’ve been ridiculed because of the article, praised, critiqued (which is awesome). Some people have even been downright disgruntled over some of the tips. Yes, I know, that’s strange.

But here’s a little secret: it was written solely for the purpose of driving traffic, as a pillar post to get this blog started and on the right track. It isn’t perfect, nor was it meant to be, but at its core it is the product of my studying up on how to increase traffic and the tried-and-true techniques of successful bloggers. Did I know it’d be as lambasted as it has? No, but then that comes with the territory.

So, blog tip #9,472: don’t be afraid to do what you want. And, if you can (and are willing to), do or write something that others won’t agree with, or that they might find controversial.

Because there is no such thing as bad publicity. Not here.

Let me tell you a little story about a man named Bo.

Bo was a decent person, just like you or me. His intentions were good: at the end of the day, he really just wanted to help people. So when he decided to start a blog, he thought hey, why don’t I go around the Internet, find articles I like, and re-post them on my blog for others to read? It’ll be awesome!

So Bo went along his merry way, copying full articles from various websites and blogs and posting them on his own. Until one day, when he was asked by an author to take one down.

“Oh, chill out, dude,” he said to the author, “I was just doing you a favor. I’ve hosted tons of different articles from tons of different places, and most people thank me for posting their work. You’re the first, you’re the last, who will ever complain. But fine, okay, I’ll take your work down. But now you’ll miss out on all that wonderful traffic I would have provided you (with the little nondescript link I put at the very bottom of the post, no less. Of course, I put my link at the very top and signed the bottom of your article with my name and e-mail address, but hey! You were getting a deal here and you just missed out!).”

And so Bo and the author parted ways. The end.

The point of this story is simple: no matter what your intentions are, no matter how much you might believe it’s okay or that you’re providing a service to the original author by sharing their articles, it is never justifiable to plagiarize the entire contents of someone’s work without first seeking their permission.

Fair Use

The Internet is a big place, and without the Fair Use policy of copyright law, most blogs probably would not exist (or they’d be very, very different creatures than they are now).

So, according to Fair Use, you may use copyrighted material without the permission of the original author only when your use meets certain criteria. The U.S. Copyright Office states these criteria, as well as “factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair,” and I strongly suggest you look them over.

I’d also like to share a few other resources which should prove valuable to any bloggers out there:

One Cool Site’s “Splog Off! Dealing with content theft” and Lorelle’s “How To Spot A Splog,” in which Lorelle provides this gem of great advice (and common sense):

“As a reminder, if you find an article you want to recommend to others, copy a sentence, paragraph or two, but no more than a couple hundred words in the form of a teaser or preview, and post it in quotes or a blockquote on your blog with a link to the original article. It’s better if you include a few words as to why you recommend this, to make your blog look different from a splog.”

Two great articles for those uncertain times when content theft is giving you high blood pressure. Be sure to check them out.