Fight blog fright with Twister

Blog fright? Happens all the time.

  • You sit down to write a post.
  • In place of your screen, you see 500 people staring back at you. A sea of beige cardigans! They look just like your high school AP history teacher.
  • You soldier on, but what comes out doesn’t sound like you. Or, it does sound like you, but the boring, less evolved, less interested-in-helping-the-world version of you.
  • Now you’re a ghost. Are you there, body? It’s me, head!

Blog fright happens whenever I sit down to write. The high school history teacher in my head can tell you all about it.

Our first problem is sitting down to write.

If sitting down to write keeps giving us a fright, why do we keep sitting down to write?

It gets better with practice. But it could also get better with a workaround.

I have a treat for you. It’s called Blog Twister. It’s right here. And you’re never too old to play it.

You may say, Who has time for fun and games? I have a business to run.

This Twister is special. Not only does it fight your fiercest blog frights, but it can bring you business, too.

There’s no excuse not to make time for fun and games. It’s a business imperative!

With Blog Twister, you won’t even have time to get blog fright.

Your brain will be too busy trying to keep your body from falling over.

And you won’t sit down to write until after you’ve written. Not alone, and not in front of a crowd, but with others. Your colleagues, who like you, even when you barely make sense.

You who? Blog Twister is for people who:

  • Feel lonely.
  • Are dyslexic.
  • Only have 5 minutes.
  • Don’t write posts in their sleep.
  • Just want someone to ask them questions. So they can just answer questions.
  • Know they should write for their business every day, but Inowanna.

Preparing for FUN

  1. If you don’t have a Twister game, you can acquire one here.
  2. Why don’t you have a Twister game? Now you can write it off as a business expense.
  3. Instead of your standard-issue spinner, use this one.

BLOG TWISTER INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Spin by clicking ANYWHERE on the spinner.
  2. If you have a mat, position yourself as indicated.
  3. Answer the questions by talking to a friend, or by pretending you’re talking to a friend while recording yourself. No need to play alone. You can use Tokbox if there are a few of you.
  4. You’ll still need to edit, but it’s easier to edit something you were excited to write in the first place.

Blog Twister was assiduously coded in Processing by Alan Rorie of Almost Scientific. If you like this first attempt, won’t you tweet him and help me twist his arm into making more games?

Psst. Can you keep a secret? Then you’ll fit right in with the rest of the Secret Discount Scouts. Secrets! Discounts! Adventure! Just don’t tell anyone. Coming soon…a new product that will take you by the hand up Website Copywriting Mountain. Join today–but quietlyQuietly.

21 Comments

  1. Posted October 26, 2010 at 8:04 am | Permalink

    Whoa. Kelly, I’m stupefied! Stupefied! Your Blog Twister is a god send! Perfect timing for me since I spent the past two days thinking of what to write for future blog posts.
    I never really played the actual game of Twister… but Blog Twister?? I’m playing this game today!
    Bianca Filoteo´s last blog ..Everyday Stories- On the Subway My ComLuv Profile

  2. Posted October 26, 2010 at 8:43 am | Permalink

    Bianca, yay! Maybe you can even have a Twister party.

  3. Posted October 26, 2010 at 8:46 am | Permalink

    You had me at “sea of beige cardigans.”

    Also, my high school AP history teacher was so scary that every year on Halloween she would dress up as a witch and proclaim that:

    Since everything thinks I’m a witch anyway, once a year I dress up as one.

    Yikes!
    Briana´s last blog ..What’s that song My ComLuv Profile

  4. Posted October 26, 2010 at 8:49 am | Permalink

    Classic witch trickery! Pretending to be pretending to be a witch!

  5. Posted October 26, 2010 at 8:53 am | Permalink

    I just noticed the apostrophes are missing from all the questions. I think it’s a coding issue. We don’t even use punctuation when we’re playing Twister.

  6. Posted October 26, 2010 at 12:38 pm | Permalink

    Complete genius, I love it!

    Also, is it just me, or are you writing more and more outstandingly good posts. I’m sure my life gets better and my enthusiasm steps up a notch every time I stop by :)

  7. Posted October 26, 2010 at 12:43 pm | Permalink

    Awww, thanks, lucy! My enthusiasm steps up a notch every time YOU stop by, so we’re even!

  8. Posted October 26, 2010 at 1:31 pm | Permalink

    I’ve found a new compulsion, not sure it will make me write a blog post, I mostly just want to spin the spinner and see what it says to do!
    Kelly, you make everything more fun (are you sure you’re an introvert?!!)

    Love this, need to spin a few more times before I might feel like actually writing a post though.

    Love to you-
    Lisa
    http://www.Intuitivebody.com
    Simple Sacred Solutions For Living Beautifully In Your Body

  9. Posted October 26, 2010 at 1:51 pm | Permalink

    Dear Miss ‘Licious,

    We – a team of anonymous robots and wayward ninjas – are Mr. Fatunmise’s legal counsel.

    We are sending you this official-like cease + desist letter on behalf of our client.

    Mr. Fatunmise contends that if you continue to break the boundaries of awesome, his head will explode.

    If our client were to suffer a case of cranial boominess, he would be unable to work. Or see. Or eat chocolate.

    And that would be baaaaaaaaaaaad.

    We are hereby requesting that you regulate your awesome so as not to cause irreparable damage to our client’s cognitive parts.

    Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

    Love + bunnies,
    Mr. Fatunmise’s legal team
    Sent on behalf of Fabeku Fatunmise´s last blog ..Scratching The Wrong Itch My ComLuv Profile

  10. Posted October 26, 2010 at 2:37 pm | Permalink

    Lisa, I see you’ve discovered the unfortunate loophole in Blog Twister. Addiction to spinning the spinner. The only remedy for this is a Twister party. You need someone to spin the wheel and take notes while you are on the mat.

    Mr. Fabeku’s legal team, I will dispatch a chocolate settlement to you shortly, with neither admission nor denial of cranial involvement.

  11. Posted October 26, 2010 at 3:11 pm | Permalink

    Brilliance!

    Not that any more enticement is needed, but as Mr. Fabeku’s legal team mentioned chocolate, I think one just might place a truffle or other chocolate delight on every stop on the spinner. (If you’re going to be addicted to spinning, there might as well be chocolate to go along with it.) I got through my college career the M&M way. M&M’s for every report page written. I have a higher Standard of Chocolate now. So, even though M&M’s make a good color match for the spinner, I’d vote for Green & Black’s organic, or maybe salted carmels… Writing. Were we talking about writing?
    Mahala Mazerov´s last blog ..Taking My Own Medicine My ComLuv Profile

  12. Posted October 26, 2010 at 3:22 pm | Permalink

    Mahala, This is what has been missing all my life! A Standard of Chocolate! Green & Black’s, all the way. I guess some writing might happen in there somewhere.

  13. Posted October 26, 2010 at 3:58 pm | Permalink

    Twister! Salted caramels! (My second vote is for Trader Joe’s dark chocolate PB cups. Oh wait, I just happen to have a tub of them.)

    Off to play now. If you don’t hear from me after a month or so, please contact the authorities. I may be too twisted up to move.

    (Kelly, you are a creatively fun genius. I think this all the time, but I must write it down this time.)
    Elizabeth´s last blog ..celebrate My ComLuv Profile

  14. Posted October 26, 2010 at 8:00 pm | Permalink

    oh my gosh, what a brilliant way to waste some time =) i love it! every post will be twister-inspired!!
    xo
    michelle marlahan´s last blog ..let there be light My ComLuv Profile

  15. Posted October 29, 2010 at 7:10 pm | Permalink

    Nevermind that I have a systemic and viral case of blogfright/blogblight…

    This. Is. Brilliant.

    As are you.
    Cali @caligater´s last blog ..Gater Snacks My ComLuv Profile

  16. Posted October 30, 2010 at 1:18 pm | Permalink

    This is genius, Kelly. Another really helpful tool wrapped in fun, and confirmation that I made a great choice having you on my blog roll. So many clients struggle with their blogs, mainly because they don’t know where to start. Twister to the rescue!

    Now I just wish there was a badge for it!
    Krista Carnes´s last blog ..Are you giving out great candy Or how not to be a Halloweenie My ComLuv Profile

  17. Posted October 30, 2010 at 9:05 pm | Permalink

    I know I tell you all the time that you’re a genius, but what else could I say? You keep placing the brilliance bar extremely high, and you keep surpassing it! {love}

  18. Posted October 30, 2010 at 9:07 pm | Permalink

    Oh man, I really want to do this! But the twister isn’t working for me. It just keeps spinning, and spinning, and spinning.

    I do totally love your site and your writing, however, and am so excited to explore all of it.

  19. Posted November 4, 2010 at 5:53 pm | Permalink

    This is pretty much the best thing ever. RAD. I can’t believe I only just found this.

  20. melody
    Posted August 23, 2011 at 8:09 am | Permalink

    Great post!!!Love this, need to spin a few more times before I might feel like actually writing a post though.

  21. Anja
    Posted October 18, 2011 at 5:08 am | Permalink

    Hi there! I enjoy doing spinning and twister.. It’s fun! Getting something during my boring time.. Nice post!
    Anja´s last blog ..Thinking of bringing an Asian Arowana home?My ComLuv Profile

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