Zen Writing: Conversation is Key

You are your own worst critic. That saying aptly defines me, and more than likely a vast majority of professionals, across all disciplines. Writing, being an art form, we as writers tend to scrutinize our own works more so than anyone else.

Much of the scrutiny we put into our work can force us to stop progressing, start over, and/or abandon a project all together. I would not consider this a form of writer's block, that is its own hurdle, instead I look at this as a bump along the process which can be easily overcome.

Gauging Your Topic

Having a best friend, a spouse, and even kids is useful when you're looking for a sounding board for some of your ideas. In life we approach our network for advice before making decisions. We take this advice seriously because we trust the network that we have built over the years.

Writing can be approached the same way. As a blogger, personally, I have dozens of topics always going at the same time. I typically run my topics by my close friends for their input, insight, and analysis. These key factors help build a perspective different from my own that can open up the subject matter into a whole new arena. Interestingly enough, these conversations sometimes lead to new topics entirely for another post that I had not thought of.

It never hurts to share your thoughts. Make it informal, conversational, and you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.

Beware of Overload
While conversation is a key to insightful and well researched writing, as I mentioned before, it can sometimes lead to an explosion of ideas that you did not have before. This overwhelming need to write everything down is natural, and in the excitement may trigger the need to include all the ideas into one post.

Beware of this urge! This will lead the readers into the land of confusion if they cannot follow your topic. Rather then taking the time to build a strong subject matter you will simply provide them a collection pieced together ideas with little time to accurately build purpose.

Now you see while most writers have specific tools to keep track of their ideas. Rather than losing them, they record them for later use in a post of its own. It's easy to understand now why a typical blogger, or any writer for that matter, can have several pieces going at the same time.

Where do you stand when it comes to getting feedback from your peers? Do you find it useful to approach others with your ideas? Let's chat about this, I'm curious to see the feedback.

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Photo Credit, b_d_solis, stephan mantler