How to get yourself to write awesome content even when you don't feel like it

I received an interesting question on my Facebook Page last week:

How do you motivate yourself to write so well every time each day? Do you always keep pushing yourself to write more?

The short answer to that is I absolutely love writing. I know it sounds trite, but my passion for what I do gives me the motivation to keep doing it.

However, that doesn’t mean that I wake up every single day with a burning passion to write. Words still fail me from time to time and there are days when I find myself staring at a blank page with nothing to say.

So what do I do during days like these? Simple. I do something else. Anything to keep me from wasting time in front of an empty Word doc. Conssymroycupo . I reply to emails,  converse with people on Facebook, or  read and comment on my favorite blogs.

As much as possible, I don’t like *forcing* myself to write when I don’t feel like it because forced content isn’t great content. I want to produce the most inspired work for my readers and clients, and I know that in order to do that, I have to be in the best mind frame possible.

But Francesca, what if you have a looming deadline and you *have* to write something?

Okay, so what if “doing something else” isn’t much of an option for you? What if you really need to submit something, so you have no choice but to chain yourself to your desk and write?

Well, I’ve been there myself and I’ve found that the following tips help make the process faster and easier:

Create an outline – Map out your article by creating an outline first. Organize your ideas and write down your main points. You’ll find that when you have a nice, logical structure of what your article is all about, you’ll have an easier time elaborating on your points, and ideas will flow much quicker.

Specialize on a subject – I love writing, and more importantly, I also love what I’m writing about. That’s why I specialize on certain industries and only entertain clients/projects that I’m genuinely interested in. Writing just becomes easier (and faster) when you know what you’re talking about, so find your specialty and try to stick to it.

Set a strict deadline…and publicly commit to it – The fear of letting people down or looking like a flake can be enough motivation to get yourself to write. I always give my clients a date range whenever I take on a project and that deadline as well as the fear of losing the gig pushes me to finish it.

Image:  photosteve101 on Flickr