We have all been there, myself included. You have a deadline to create fantastic content, whether it is a blog, a newsletter, or an email blast. After hours of work, you are still staring at a blank document. You are blocked, everything you start to write sounds wrong, and you just can't focus. Writer's block is defined as a condition in which an author loses the ability to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. It is miserable and creates more stress than many content creators can handle.
So, why am I writing this article, well after moving I made the realization that I could not find my writing, I started blog post after blog post and nothing made it past 100 words before I delete what I wrote because I hated what I was writing. So I thought, what better way to break my writer's block than to write about the best ways to get over it.
1) Take a Short Break
I know it seems a bit counterproductive, but if you are staring at your document, nothing is coming to mind, or you hate everything you put down. You need to get up from the computer and take a break.
Go for a walk, go to the gym, make a snack, make a short trip to see a friend or family member, anything that will get you up from your screen and moving around. This is something that I have often used in my writing to help me get out of my head and help me reset to a creative mindset.
2) Do a Free Writing Session
Sometimes writer's block can come from having to many ideas that are competing in your mind. Wanting to take the content in a million different directions at once. It is great having so much vision, but not when it takes over your writing and negates any writing you may do. So instead, start writing an idea any idea, keep writing until you hit a target word or page count. Don't stop to edit any mistakes you have made. The quality is not what you are looking for at this point; you are just trying to get something down on the page to help your organize your internal thoughts.
3) Take your Planned content and Shake Them Up
Having planned content that deals with certain aspects of your business are great, it can keep you on track for your writing but can suck all the fun and creativity out of your writing. So try writing something that is off track from what you had previously planned. Write about something you are passionate about and try to relate it back to what your company needs. You really like gardening? Well, how can your product link back to that? Growth through organic and green marketing? I know that is a bit of a stretch, but that could also end up the best piece of content you present to your company.
After you can break the block to hit all of your planned content, make sure to keep the creativity alive by throwing these in when you get stuck.
4) Move
I don't mean moving across the country or to a new apartment, I mean switch up your environment. If you find when you get into the office that you can't focus on your writing and just sit there stumped, ask your boss if you can take a notebook to a park or coffee shop to shake things up. An excellent place for this is at a bookstore. Depending on your focus, you can go to some regions of the store to hit your niche. Once you have found your section, flip through the table of contents of different books and make them into content ideas (Make sure you bring something to write these down on, it is not a great use if you can't remember them once you have gotten back to work). This is great if you work on blog content or new letters. It can spark different paths of thought that would have never come otherwise.
5) Be Less Original
This may sound counter-intuitive, but sometimes less isn't about being original, just finding a new twist on an old favourite (just look at any entertainment industry). You don't need to remake the wheel each time you create content, so don't be afraid to look at your old posts or industry posts. Never copy them directly, but can you take an angle on the same issue or idea? Can you add some insight or argument about why it is or isn't still relevant in the industry today? It is a great way to jump out of a rut and allow you to see what others are saying about industry topics or to see how far your writing has come since you started writing.
6) Writing Isn't A Chore, it is a Lifestyle
A lot of the time, when people get writer's block, they get it because writing has become more of a chore than something they enjoy. Well, if this is happening to you, spice up your content writing. Create personal challenges for each piece of content. If your content is wordy, try and write your next post with the same level of engaging content with 15% fewer words. Or try adding rhyming, alliteration, or the power of threes into your writing. All the fun tools that I have personally used to re-engage myself in my writing.
Okay, let's be honest. Content writing can be hard. It takes a lot of work to take a blank page and make it into something that will excite, engage, and entertain your audience. But you can make it a bit easier by breaking through your writer's block and remember that writing is fun. Don't give in to your writer's block, embrace experimentation, and see what works best for you. Whether it's subject, location, or originality, do what works best and get back to writing.
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