write it old school

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is type one word.

Every time I sit down to work on my book or write an article for work, I find it difficult to get that first word written.

For me, an empty screen is more intimidating than a blank sheet of paper. Maybe it's the cursor blinking at me, or more likely it's that I spend so much of my day staring at computer screens.

Think about how much time you spend on your computer, whether you are writing, Tweeting or check Facebook, we devote hours of our days looking at a computer screen and it can be exhausting.

I explained this to my sister a few months back, and she gave me a great piece of advice: When you find it too difficult to type at your computer, and you feel writer's block setting in, step away from the computer, grab paper and pen and try writing out your thoughts by hand.

This works great for me. I find I am more readily able to write challenging passages by hand. I never write more than 1,000 words this way, but by the time I reach that point, I am more than ready to transfer my ideas to my computer document.

Some might argue this is a misuse of time, because you're writing everything twice, but for me it's a time saver. Instead of wasting precious minutes forcing my self to write and coming up short, I am at least being productive.

Plus, in many cases, I will edit or build upon what I initially wrote and the final product is much better.

I encourage you to try this method or find one of your own that gets you past writer's block and become more productive.

Let me know if you have any other tips that you would like to share.