First, I have to say that I’m not a blogging coach or an expert writer, but I have learned a few things about overthinking while writing and how this overthinking affects terrible on my writing.
I usually overthink everything, and it makes me very busy. Even the stupidest idea comes out as a very complicated product with overthinking.
I thought I had to add value to every word I wrote. Everything I share on social media.
Sometimes, I can’t even write about the things I know very well because I overthink. Finally, the idea stuck deep inside my head. So, how could I write?
Most bloggers overthink while writing more often and screw up the article. That is why I decided to share my experience with you, even if I’m not an expert.
One at a time
If you are a social media enthusiast like me, you hear tons of news about social media daily or find many new topics to write about after a conference or a great movie.
Yes, you have too many new ideas. You don’t know where to begin, right? You complicated things in your head. Well done! You just killed some of the best blog post ideas by overthinking.
Instead of overthinking, you could have taken out one idea first and started to write; maybe you could have completed several excellent blog posts by now.
Stop worrying too much about the topic or the content. Sit in front of your computer and start typing or take a pen and paper and write. You have to start. Write anything that comes to mind.
It doesn’t mean that you should publish everything you write. It may be junk, but no problem at all. Words on paper are much better than overthinking.
Yes, I know. It is the hardest, but it is the best practice, especially for beginners.
Classic content?
We all want to write classic articles from the first day of blogging, but it will not happen overnight. It comes with practice, discipline, and maybe good coaching.
Just don’t try too hard to be the best. You do not have to prove that to anybody. You are you if your article is a classic piece or not, still worth publishing.
I think humans are hardwired for stories with heroes, mythical creatures, and aliens. Why not write about your fantasy? Maybe you will become the next J. K. Rowling. Don’t let overthinking ruin your incredible story.
It is classic. You have to believe that.
Another important thing is I noticed that even some huge bloggers use some unfamiliar and strange words or language (I mean unusual sentence structures) to make their articles look like classic content.
You might think that it is a good idea. No, it is not.
Hard to understand for a collective audience. So, don’t force yourself. Write as ideas flow through your mind.
Over-stretch?
Are you trying to write a 3000+ words blog post from day one? Then you are being a slave to SEO and Google. Don’t do that. You are not Neil Patel or Brian Dean.
Neil Patel only creates long-form content (4000+ words) these days. Brian Dean from Backlinko reviewed 188 SEO tools in a single blog post. It is 10,000+ words. Who would read this massive post? I have no idea.
Don’t take my word wrong. I’m not telling you that overstretched, long-form content is terrible. Long-form content works exceptionally on search engines. You’ll get good traffic.
Neil Patel has proved that by performing extensive research on many blogs.
Brian Dean’s 10K+ words article alone had 1000+ comments. Isn’t that enough for you to get an idea about the performance?
These in-depth articles are the best from experts on the market. You should not follow them because when you are trying to stretch your post, your mind will automatically go into an overthinking state.
And this kind of wordy article is tough to process in mind if you are not a professional blogger. So, why would you do that? For SEO?
I believe five good points are enough for a single blog post to catch the readers. With this experience, you can do your research to find which type performs the best by mixing the long and short-form posts on your blog.
Spend days?
In the beginning, it took me about a week to complete a single blog post because I was overthinking and went through every word again and again before publishing it.
It is because lack of confidence, I think.
Most of those articles have never even been read by anybody. Not a single click or a social share. What results from wasting too much time picking the right words, correcting grammar, and researching keywords?
I could have written at least one new blog post at that time. You have to be wise to make the right decision. You can spend days and publish an article that nobody has ever going to read, or you can write a few more.
I know you have already followed the first way of blogging. Everybody does in the beginning. So, I think it is time to try the other way.
As a beginner, I decided to set a deadline for my blog post and try my best to complete the article on time instead of going through the same piece for days.
You might argue with that, but I have already seen progress in both my writing speed and my blog.
Without overthinking the topic, I can write a 1000+ word post within 4-5 hours, excluding the research time now. Isn’t that great?
70: 30
You have already understood that overthinking holds you from writing great content, writing more, taking the next step without fear, and starting your podcast series or your new Vlog channel on YouTube.
If you want to overcome overthinking, reading is the best option. Overthinking does not solve any problems, but reading does.
Spend 70% of your time reading (do not waste time picking “good” content. Read anything you’ve come across) and 30% for writing.
This is how I work on my overthinking problem, or at least how I wanted to do that. This ratio may change with time and experience, but 70% is the bare minimum for beginners.
Wrapping up
Overthinking does not help with anything. You should stop overthinking because it does complicate things even more.
The best ideas come out of the mind when it is free and relaxed. You have to have a relaxed mind, especially for newbies. Then you’ll have the best writing experience.
You would enjoy blogging. Overthinking makes blogging annoying and harder. Believe me, and try these tricks yourself.
Let me know if you have anything to add to this, how you’ve started your blogging career as a beginner, and where you stand today. I would love to add more valuable points to this post from your journey.
Hi Nirodha,
I so much believe in this, trust me. I used to do the same thing. I’ve discussed that in my Urdu YouTube vlog as well.
What I noticed is that we care way too much about others’ opinions. There will always be those toxic people who would keyboard-bash you for nothing. We have to have empathy for those people and try to be nice to them.
However, I’m a firm believer in polishing the content, but if it’s stopping you from doing it, then you must figure out a way to solve this issue. The best way is that accept that there could be mistakes, or it could have been better, but don’t quit publishing. The process teaches us so much. Going through those experiences makes us better.
What do you think?
Hi Hassan,
Thank you very much for your insight. Really appreciate it. Yes, of course, toxic people try to ruin others effort and most of the people love to talk about writing and publishing other than really doing it.
Talking about writing is completely different from actually writing. They don’t know that. So, I’m really happy because at least I actually did that.
Encouraging words from experienced bloggers like you are the best thing I have earned through my personal blog.
Thanks again.
Hi Nirodha,
Over thinking, for me is a dangerous activity that can crumble what you’ve assembled. This so because the more you think, the more different thoughts and ideas keep coming to your mind and complicate things up. You might have set up a plan for executing a project, but because of over thinking, you abandon the project thinking you’re on the right course. However, the tips you presented here are great.
Hi Moss,
Glad you liked it. All these are based on my own experience. So, I know how hard to come out of this and become an actual writer.
I am not a writer or a blogger but, I wanted to be a one someday. That is why I stopped overthinking, and it helped me a lot.
Thank you very much for stopping by and commenting.
It seems that focusing on all the blog promotion methods is really impossible for the new blogger as they need to do many other blogging things.
I always recommend focussing on three-four ways effectively.
In that case, first, a new blogger needs to figure out which promotional methods work best for his blog.
Hi Arpita,
I think it depends. In my case, I just wanted to write and publish. So, I didn’t even think about getting traffic or promoting my blog post.
However, I have followed a few great bloggers such as Dustin W. Stout, Darren Rowse, Moss Clement……etc. and learned from them about blog promotion and how to gain quality traffic.
However, if your primary focus on improving writing skills like me, you should not be worried too much about traffic or social media. My advice is just to write and hit the “Publish” button.
Hi Nirodha,
Awesome article.
Overthinking can make things complicated and it also prevents your brain from seeing the bigger picture.
You consume yourself thinking about that particular event/thing and it also the reason people get depressed.
Keep up the good work :)
Hey,
I couldn’t agree more. I was lucky enough to know my problem. It is not the writing, it is thinking about it too much.
Thanks for stopping by and your kind words.
Hi Nirodha,
Great article! As you say overthinking make things complicated and I totally agree with you. When I’m a newbie in the blogging world I always think deeply about my topic as it complete by simple step. So, sometimes I’m quite disappointed with this things and I learn from other bloggers that what they are doing and learn a lot from it.
Thank you for the article. :)
Have a great day!
Hey Dharmic,
Glad you liked it. Yes, of course, we should learn from the experienced and successful bloggers as well as from our own failures.
Sometimes we overthink and try to write a mind-blowing piece. I think we should not do that as beginners because it is the exact way of building stress.
So, just write and publish. Most probably nobody reads your post. That is totally fine. Write for yourself.
Thank you very much for stopping by and commenting. Stay in touch.
Hey Nirodha,
Awesome article. Couldn’t agree more. Looking forward to reading more related articles in the future.
Hey Bhawana,
Thank you very much for your kind words as always. That really helps. I hope you’ll stay in touch with us.
Hey Nirodha,
Nice post as always. I’m a victim of overthinking and overcomplicating everything I do; having said that, just going out and doing something is the best way to actually getting things done. I’ve found that by trying to make everything perfect, you either slow down the whole process or never even defeat yourself before ever getting started. Too often we compare ourselves to industry leaders when really we just need to get our feet wet, develop our own workflows and learn as we go. I never would have started my own website if I tried pushing out 10,000+ pieces like Neil Patel. In fact, I would only write 200-400 word posts at first and now that I’ve improved and grown over the years, I’m writing significantly more without a lot less effort compared to when I first started. Reading this was a nice reminder to keep it simple and not overcomplicate things.
Hey Brandon,
First, I’m glad you liked it and thrilled to hear a success story. We all newbies need this sort of inspiration from successful bloggers like you.
I’m a big fan of your blog. I have seen how you evolved and improved with your writing over time.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
That’s a good write-up. I do believe that overthinking is not at all good, as it always stops us to take the right action. When we think a lot, analyze a lot we can take the actions timely and we miss the opportunity. We should make things normal in our minds and keep trying things whatever people think. Keep up the good work.
Hey Santanu,
Thank you very much for stopping by and your input. Yes, of course, we are complicating things in our mind.