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April 14, 2017

Tips + Tricks to Beating Writer’s Block in Content Marketing

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Assignment? Check. Scope of project? Check. Context and background information? Check. Okay, let’s get started!

Come on, brain. Any minute now.

Brain?

We’ve all been there: you’re ready to start drafting content and BOOM! Writer’s block swoops in and messes with your creative process. It doesn’t matter how well you might understand your project or audience, sometimes writer’s block can jumble up even the most seasoned writers. It’s a discouraging time-suck and you just can’t seem to articulate your thoughts and ideas through the right words. Writer’s block is the worst.

So how do you get those creative juices flowing, and break down that brick wall of frustration and confusion? The Delucchi Plus Content Team has a couple of ideas to reboot your brain and help get those ideas flowin’. Here are some of our go-to tips for beating the block.

Set A Timeline

If you’re anything like me, you get distracted easily — even on easier writing assignments. When something feels too large or intimidating, it can be easy to avoid because you don’t know where to start. Two of our Content Producers, Hannah Clark and Riley Tarver, suggest setting timelines for yourself. When an assignment feels like too much, biting off smaller pieces and building a schedule can help to at least get something on paper. Even if it’s not the best writing, having something to go back and fix later is better than having nothing at all.

Playlist Inspo

For some, writing with music can be a little bit of a challenge. However, writing with music can also help you concentrate, get in the zone, and get those ideas moving. Another one of our Content Producers, Diana Ruiz, suggests listening to a writing-centric playlist (or even creating your own). If you’re curious about Diana’s creativity-boosting songs, you can follow her Spotify playlist here.

Move It

When Meg Owen, Senior Content Strategist, and Clark Douglas, Content Strategist & Producer, are having trouble getting past writer’s block, they recommend getting up and moving around. Sometimes sitting in the same spot and looking at the same screen can make you feel in a rut. So move it! Take a lap around the office, or around the block. If your office environment allows, set up camp away from your desk and in a new spot. A change of scenery might help reboot your thoughts and get things flowing.

Grab a Beverage (or A Snack)

Are you hydrated? Caffeinated? Or hungry? You might need a little something to get your brain functioning better. Grabbing something to eat or grabbing water might be the boost your body needs to get creativity back on track. Our Copywriter, Caroline Bennett, suggests grabbing some coffee too – maybe you just need a little buzz to crank out those awesome ideas being suffocated by writer’s block. If not coffee, tea, because I am fairly convinced tea can fix almost anything.

If all else fails, I would recommend taking a five or ten-minute break to step away from the computer and try doodling or coloring. You don’t have to be an artist or even color within the lines, but focusing on something else might help shift things around in your headspace. Whenever I have been cranking out an assignment and feel as though my copy is getting repetitive, I pull out the coloring book and go to town. Once I come back to my assignment, I feel that I can focus better because I let my brain take a break.

The best cure for writer’s block? Trial and error. Experiment with different ways of taking breaks, and find what works best for you. If you keep doing what you have always done, you will get what you have always gotten. Switch things up! Who knows? Your best ideas could be just beyond the block.