While I’m away, I asked my friend and content creation expert Parrish Wilson to share her tips on getting blog posts written ahead of time. Her advice is perfect for prewriting some posts so you can take a break or just getting you over your weekly writer’s block.

—Megan

Blogging can be a time suck. It’s often that thing on your to-do list that eats away at you. The more you look at it, the more stressed you get. The more stressed you get, the harder it is to start writing.

And you’re supposed to do it every week….

Blogging is hard.

Every single client I work with struggles with consistent output. Even my clients that have well established businesses with years of content creation under their belts still struggle to write weekly, meet their publishing date and be happy with the outcome.

You’re not the only one. I promise.

So how do you do it? How do you blog for business without losing your mind? Or without sucking up the cost of hiring a ghost blogger? (You don’t even want to know how many clients ask me about hiring a ghost blogger!)

You batch write.

You schedule one day to write 3-4 posts. You carve out the time, distraction free. Start the day with a little walk or some yoga, maybe a meditation. Pour a cup of your favorite tea or a really nice coffee. Take a few deep breaths. And write.

The first drafts—they don’t matter.

They can be as rough as they need to be. Just getting them done will give you so much motivation to keep moving forward. And never, ever edit while you write your first draft. First drafts are for mistakes. First drafts are for flow. You can’t get the flow if you keep stopping to correct your spelling mistakes or come up with the perfect sentence.

With the whole day devoted to your writing you’ll be able to stay focused, stay in the writing groove and crank out some seriously strong content. You will be able to develop deeper ideas through a series of posts or find ways to link between posts to keep your reader engaged. With a whole day devoted to writing you can experience the joy of creativity. You can feel the soothing, self-nurturing state brought about by writing.

A day for writing can be a beautiful, soul-nourishing day. And don’t you need a little bit more of that?

Not to mention, it’s going to get some serious shit knocked off your to-do list!

To really make the day successful, I have a few more suggestions:

1. Know exactly what you’re going to write about beforehand.
2. Don’t worry about titles or tweetables until the end (unless they come to you as you go).
3. Schedule a different day for creating your blog graphics.

The key is to stay focused on the specific activity of writing. This gets the creative juices flowing and success follows easily. If you’re interested in batch writing with me and a small group of heart-centered entrepreneurs, check out my online Write Joyfully workshops. I take participants through my signature writing process and provide editing/coaching support throughout the day.

Parrish Wilson is a Content Strategist, Writing Coach & Speaker. She works with optimistic business owners ready to share their wisdom and brilliance, inspiring others to flourish. The combination of a background in psychology, extensive training in content marketing and a strong intuition for building relationships between businesses and clients has turned Parrish into a leader in her field. Through all of her work she inspires female entrepreneurs to create content with their heart, knowing that their truth is what gives them the greatest potential to impact others.