When I have a hard time writing, be it blog entries or fiction, I have found I have one of two problems. #1 I don't know enough about the content. I love when

When I have a hard time writing, be it blog entries or fiction, I have found I have one of two problems. #1 I don't know enough about the content. I love when I have this problem because it means I get to have unique (to me) experiences that will help me flesh out my idea. I also realize that I'm not in a position to write anything, which relieves some pressure. Unfortunately, "not enough experience" is not one of my common hangups. Which leads me to.... #2 I have a mechanical problem. Uh, I hate these, because they come in all forms. It could be that I'm writing in a style that I'm not used to. Or that I'm trying to write about a topic in a blog post that is meant for a book. Or my first draft is a dumpster fire. Or I can't get through a first draft because I'm worried about said dumpster fire. Or my idea isn't organized. Or coherent. Or maybe I'm a terrible writer and should give up. And on and on and on goes the spinning top if self loathing. To combat it, I do a few things. First I make sure the idea and the medium align. You wouldn't want to write a blog post about the geo political tensions the Syrian refugee crisis has caused much like you wouldn't want to write a book about your mom's famous beef stroganoff recipe. Once you feel they align, tell yourself you're not a genius. Really, do it. What you're about to write will be derivative and boring. It's going to be the steamy turd you wish you never wrote. Then polish the turd. Revise your writing the best you can. And finally have someone (with some sort of credentials) critique it. Or if you're feeling daring, set it off in the wild. After you do all that, put that piece out of your head and start something else. This advice, in and of itself, isn't novel. Hell, someone on this thread's handle is FailMore. But that's all it is. Reps, fucking up and learning from it. And remember you're not the smartest guy in the room. So don't pretend to be. But you can be interesting to some people, so work on that.