The very first step of starting your first (or next) blog?

Give yourself permission to write again.

You just have to start writing.

At first, you’re going to have a lot of stream of conscious thoughts screaming to get out. We have to get those out and let them be free before we can uncover what’s under them.

There are a few methods.

Method 1: Journaling

Light a candle late at night, or sit in a cute chair early in the morning with a notepad and jot down one page of words.

To be honest, this doesn’t work for me, but it might do something for you.

If I had to choose, I’m definitely a late-night journal-er. I tend to stay up late when the moon is full. I feel antsy when the moon is full. Like I have places to go and people to see. I can feel the pull of taking a trek when the moon is full. But I usually just stand on my back porch, pondering life with the man in the moon.

Tell me to wake up in teh morning with coffee and sit with a journal? That’s really not for me. I wake up wanting to write, and if there are words for me to say, I need to type them. As a lass, i took the time to learn to be a great typer, and that’s not a skill I have lost. I can type very many times faster than I can write.

So if there’s an itch I need to scratch, word-wise: I want to type it. Writing in a journal slows me down. But if slowing down is something you’re wanting to try … Journalling might be right for you!

Here are 4 Methods for typing your thoughts

Method 2: Google Docs // Pages

Tried and true. This is another I never really use. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very useful. I’ve written tons of words in Google Docs. Lost most of them. They just sorta get lost. I mean, sure, I can go find them, but I don’t.

Pages, same thing.

At first, I wrote tons of stories in Pages because I’m on a Mac. I liked the quickness. The low keystrokes to get started. I can get the ping of an idea, a moment of remembering a story, walk into my computer room or open pages, click enter, and there’s the cursor on a blank screen.

I have tons of stories in my Pages, and in my Google Docs

But same as the other, I don’t really go back to those. I just … wrote them.

But that’s okay. At first, we’re just giving ourself permission to write. Likely, we have to get through a million words before anything starts making sense.

That sounds like TOO MANY, but it’s not. I want you to know that you have a million words inside of you. More.

if you fancy yourself a writer, just start writing. Write enough that you learn, again ” I’m a writer.” Being a writer is just a way of interacting with the world. If it’s in you, it’s in you. You just have to start letting it out. Write more, not less. No need to Harper Lee. We don’t need one masterpiece and a lifetime of not feeling good enough. Writers just need to write. You have permission from me. Now let’s get permission from you.

Method 3: 750 Words

750words.com is simple. The idea? Write 750 words a day. No pressure. No publication. No graveyard of word docs to scroll through later. You just journal to no one. Write an essay or a dear diary. Doesn’t matter.

No one’s reading it. But other people are doing it.

It’s like internet body-doubling. Some people need people to do stuff with. No shame in that. Check out 750 words.com and start becoming a writer again by doing the thing. Writers gonna write.

Method 4: Scrivener

If you like a change of context, check out Scrivener.

You can write a whole book in there, or use it to feel like you’re “in your writing space”.

Scrivener is a paid program from Literature and Lattes. If you are losing time as a writer because you get distracted before you start writing, I would suggest Scrivener.

Writing is the only thing you’ll do in Scrivener. You won’t check instagram or facebook while you’re in there. When I’m in Scrivener, it feels like I’m just in a separate space, and that really works for me, as a writer.

I prefer to write in a native environment, rather than use Google Docs to write in because I find it easier to get in “the mood”.

Try a few different options.

Method 5: Notion

Notion is a can of worms. A pretty big can of worms.

It can definitely be your writing space. It’s very customizable and expandable and you might love it for writing.

You can do very many things inside of Notion. If you get distracted often, Notion might not be the best place to start. There’s too much. You could easily get off the writing track and stuck on all the other pretty ways to use Notion.

That being said, you could technically create, publish, and sell an entire book on Notion. You could even update it live. I purchased a $20 book on Shopify Coding form Ed Codes via Gumroad, and it’s entirely written on and published in Notion. Plus … Ed can update it if Shopify changes something, and my copy will update, too. Nice!

Conclusion

Different writers need different things. When you’re just getting back into writing, the best method for you will depend on your style.

We don’t need to fit into the first box we see. There are so many options for writing. I write in so many different places. I like a change of context. Writing natively in a particular app helps me compartmentalize my writing into different perspectives. I find Google Docs and other traditional word docs very distracting.

Pick a method or try them all.

Just start writing.