Nine Ways to Effectively Banish Blinking Cursor Syndrome
Even professional copywriters need reliable strategies to turn out effective writing for their clients. There are tips, tricks…even entire courses dedicated to banishing writer’s block and unleashing your creative genius.
If you’ve elected to write your own content for your business and you don’t consider yourself a writer, chances are you’ve sat in front of a blinking cursor hoping for a flash of inspiration to strike and for sales generating, customer satisfying, conversion super-charging words to flow onto the page as if by magic.
I don’t have any magic methods, but I do have nine that never fail me when I’m up against a deadline and the drafts need to be done…and that can feel pretty magical.
1. Find something else to do
If you don’t find your fingers flying over the keyboard with brilliance pouring out, give yourself permission to get up and do something else. At this point in the not writing process, you’ve probably got your brain so tied in knots your good ideas can’t get past the barricade and onto the page.
Now’s the time to walk around the block. Or wash some dishes. Any repetitive task that requires virtually no input from your engaged brain somehow magically unblocks messages from the beyond.
Hands + soapy water is my go-to blinking cursor banisher. I just have to make sure my best ideas aren’t circling the drain with the shampoo suds. It’s the reason I keep a Rite in the Rain notebook and a golf pencil in my shower.
True story.
2. Rely on writing prompts
English teachers are onto something here. Every day my daughter had to create a journal entry from a writing prompt. Writing prompts are powerful because they help us connect unrelated concepts or tap into an emotional response or just spark a new way of assessing an experience that’s maybe been taken for granted.
I keep two bound books of writing prompts on my bookcase for days when inspiration feels a little thin. There is gold in prompts like:
“write about a conversation you weren’t supposed to overhear”
“James Joyce said that a man’s errors are his portals of discovery. What mistakes led to epiphanies for you?”
“Begin with ‘it didn’t seem like much at the time…’”
Let the prompts open your mind to possibilities and free write. I don’t worry at the outset how this prompted writing will tie back to a product or service. I give it space to let the connection come together later.
3. Plan Things Out
I am much more spontaneous when I have a plan. Some people go so far as to have a full-blown editorial calendar but others find sufficient freedom in having a list of topics ready to go. When you don’t have to write and plan in the same session, you get back that necessary bandwidth to get words onto the page.
Break topic planning and writing up for good when possible or feasible for your business.
I keep a notebook with snippets of ideas as well as a whiteboard in my office that has a running list of potential ideas for articles.
4. Don’t Edit Write Now
Writing and editing are two entirely different functions and, if you try to do them simultaneously, you may struggle with getting into flow while writing. Get out of judgment and leave red pen mode for when the doing is done. You absolutely have to go back and edit - and perhaps edit again.
But in order to edit, you’ve got to write! Give yourself the grace to write an ugly first draft and delight in the magic of reworking it to connect with your audience.
If you are stuck somewhere in your writing, try the “insert brilliant example here” and move on. Don’t let yourself get stuck during the drafting. And remember, you’re writing this for your people, not your 9th grade composition teacher. There’s way more flexibility in how you come across and how you express yourself. Perfect grammar need not apply (unless your people are grammarians, natch.)
5. Create an Idea File
When your own well feels dry, it can be inspiring to be inspired by others. If you have to write on the reg, start putting together a file of writing that impresses you. Emails, social captions…whatever kind of writing you need to knock out for your business.
Professional copywriters call these “swipe files” because we tuck away little bits of marketing messages that resonate or entire sales pages that have raked in big bucks. But swipe file can be misconstrued. No matter how blank that page is…you are duty-bound to fill it with your own, original authentic words. After all, that is what your audience wants from you. They want YOU.
Since I write on my desktop these days, I have a digital folder that I keep long-form copy in…but my Gmail storage is about to hit the limit because that’s where I archive emails that I like. Keep the things that catch your eye close to where you write so you can refer to it early and often in the process.
6. Do Some Research
All those college professors were onto something too. When you know things, you can see connections. And interesting connections make for interesting writing. As the author, David Burkus, says, “ All ideas are a combination of pre-existing ideas. If you’re “out” of new ideas it’s probably because you don’t have enough old ideas to combine.”
Also, don’t be afraid to put your new polish on an old concept. It’s been working for Hollywood and it can work for you. Getting curious could get you unblocked (and you’ll end up smarter for it!)
In Jay White’s Email Copy Made Easy course I learned a simple (but effective) way to get my mind primed for seeing comparisons…when I need to come up with something I ask myself “what is this kind of like?”.
7. Use Non-fiction to Relieve Writing Friction
Stories sell. They help connect us to our audience. It’s primal, they tell us. So what if you don’t have the personal stories to tell or you feel like you lack original storytelling chops? Turn to inspiring stories from autobiographies and other works of non-fiction. Amazing people! Handling harrowing events from history like a boss!
Yes, there is a famous person in history you can connect to your brand. Build suspense by withholding the identity of this who’s who and you’ll have your readers in the palm of your hand. I recently saw Kevin Rogers do this and it was a brilliant piece of writing. He managed to weave the story of Eddie Van Halen into a lesson for his audience about finding your thing and giving it time to grow into itself before you let the world weigh in.
There’s no rule that the stories have to be yours to be effective, you just have to create the connection to your brand or business so the audience sees it (and feels it).
8. Get It on Tape
If you don’t consider yourself a natural writer, I’ll wager you’re probably a natural talker. Especially when you get to go on about a topic you’ve got a passion for. Like Seth Godin says, “I write like I talk and I don’t get talker’s block.”
Words to record by, right there.
When you’re at a loss for written words, speak your content into existence. The fact that it is perfectly acceptable to wander around talking into the butt of your phone also allows you to pair up Tip #1 “Find Something Else to Do” and with “Get it On Tape”…essentially you just turbocharged your writing session.
Walking is one of those tasks that frees up the creative brain and walking and talking pair up perfectly.
Transcription programs aren’t half bad these days…and remember…you’re now in the editing phase! Laugh at what the robot thinks you said, fix it, and get that piece polished and published.
9. Lean on Listicles, Roundups, and Resources
When I am struggling to write, it’s fun and refreshing to create listicles (you’re reading one now). You can build off a singular topic or even dip back into your past pieces. Truth is, not everyone in your audience sees everything you write, so there’s no harm in sending things out again.
Roundups are great tools where you can show your audience examples of things that are relevant to them. I save up great autoresponder emails - it’s harder than it sounds - but when I have enough to illustrate a point I want to make, I put them together to help my audience learn what’s working now in the industry.
Resource guides have that delicious insider feel and they can be a huge gift to your followers. Are you a business leader? Tell your people what platforms you use to run your business and why. People love it when you give them actionable information to get them past analysis paralysis and into action - all in a clear concise package.
An added bonus? These types of posts are also perfect for cutting up into smaller pieces of teaser content for social…giving your other writing requirements a little breathing room too. And, the text practically begs to be enhanced with images so there’s less need to write 100’s and 100’s of words. Win-win.
Finding a system that works for you can relieve so much of the pressure we all can put on ourselves when it is time to write. You’ll find consistently turning out content a lot easier when you lean on these pre-writing and writing strategies to get drafts done.
I’d love to hear what you do to get inspired. Drop a reply in the comments…I’m always looking for the next big thing to bust through writer’s block.