29 Aug Cure Your Writer’s Block – Here’s How to Jump-Start Your Creativity

Stuck for content ideas? Learn how to make your writing pop again.

Written by Daniela Cavalletti

5 min read

It’s that time of the month again … Time to write your stash of blog posts or create your regular newsletter full of clever content.

But you’re stuck. Your creativity-well is dryer than the Atacama desert. Tumbleweed blows through your brain where you were hoping to find brilliant ideas.

You sit at your desk, willing those breathtakingly clever topics to pop up. But, instead, all you can feel emerging from the dark is a growing sense of panic. Your deadline is looming and you have no freaking idea what to write.

You’ve got nothing. Nada, nix, klum, zilch.

Hello, writer’s block!

Blog Posts – Surfing the Anticipation Wave

Part of a great blog post or newsletter (or any other type of writing, really) is to keep surprising your reader while being consistent in your message. Make them look forward to what you will come up with next. What new things you can teach them, what new ideas they can discover. You want to give them a chance to get to know you and your thoughts, and keep them hooked and entertained. Live with you through the ups and downs.

In short: you want them coming back for more of your stuff.

Finding Your Creativity Nirvana

Great … but what the heck is that going to be?! What makes your viewpoint unique? How can you tell your story in ways that keep surprising and gripping your readers?

Even the most experienced writers get stuck in writer’s block and ideas-dearth at times. So as wordsmiths, we like to trick ourselves into creativity nirvana by taking a different view, by looking at the world from a new angle.

Here’s how we do it:

#1. Challenge the Usual

If you’re stuck with the same old, same old, here’s a simple trick to start you off. Do the opposite of the norm to conquer your writer’s block.

• Less is More – Who’s got the time to try out all “101 Ways to Repurpose Content” or “99 Ways to Relax” (I’m getting stressed just typing this … 99 ways?!). So, instead, write the utter opposite of the long-list post: give us only your Top 10 or Secret 3 Tips – not 100 of them. We’ll thank you for it.
• Keep It Simple – If your industry is known for overcomplicating things, and for too much jargon, find an easy way to communicate your ideas. Perhaps use a diagram or infographic instead of many words to explain ideas, processes and concepts.
• Juxtapose It – Introduce a playful element into a conservative or serious industry or topic. Just look at Lego Serious Play. A colourful child’s toy of all things is used to powerfully enhance business performance. And it stands out, because it’s unusual, a novel idea.

What can you write about from a different angle? How can you challenge the status quo in your industry?

#2. Get Personal

I know, I know … You hate talking about yourself or talking up your business. But I have news for you: your readers are interested. Interested in you and how you see the world. Now, I’m not advising you to madly rant and rave (at least not all the time). But let us see who you are, what you are made of – and that you are human.

My blog post Surviving The Business of Life (and Death) about coping with running a business while dealing with the impending death of my mother in law helped me cope. And it was one of the most referred to articles in emails and online comments my regular writing has received. My thoughts and feelings expressed in Here’s To No More Crap Content and I Met Someone Today needed to come off my chest – and they give a glimpse into my and my business’s values.

What makes you tick? What makes your blood boil?

#3. What Do You Stand For?

And while we’re at it: what do you feel enthusiastic about, what’s important to you? What ideas define you and your business? What battle cry can your readers align behind? For me it’s being genuinely passionate, being deeply engaged in all I do. To ask questions, and truly listen to understand.

What’s your motto?
What keeps you awake at night – and makes you get up in the morning?

#4. Show and Tell

Especially for longer blog posts (or other longer pieces you write), giving plenty of examples will create a sense of being involved and make dry theory come to life. Try your own case studies (you can call them ‘client stories’ or ‘success stories’ to sound less formal), do some external research or create your own relevant examples.

Don’t be shy to link to your own content – it will allow your readers to form a deeper understanding of what you stand for and your business offers. Leave the tall poppy syndrome fear at home and let your readers in.

#5. Chunk It Down, Make It Digestible

‘Ultimate guides’ have their place, but they can be a tad overwhelming to tackle. They might leave your readers feeling inferior for not completing everything on the list you present them with. And you, you feel stressed because you cannot think of 77 Ways to Save Money Buying An Investment Property, but only seven (arrgghh!).

So write guides and tip sheets that are doable – not long for length sake. Gauge the time-frame your readers can or would allocate to accomplish a task, then frame your guide around this. The slightly weird and wonderful How to Knit a Huge Blanket in 4 Hours went viral, generating a crazy 135,000 shares on TipHero alone.

Take care to make your time-frame realistic so you won’t disappoint your readers. So, alas, I won’t be writing an article on How to Write a Viral Blog Post in 30 Minutes anytime soon! Sorry.

#6. Be Controversial

There’s nothing wrong with being a little provocative with your blog’s statements or questions. Go and discuss an uncomfortable truth, bust a myth or raise some eyebrows.

Applied in small and careful doses, this is a great device to engage your desired readers and encourage discussion. Don’t be afraid to show your colours. The rise of ‘alternative facts’ and the oxygen the media is giving to it was a bee in my bonnet so I wrote this post about Trump and the media chasing headlines.

What are you passionate about? What do you hold a strong or different view on?

#7. Lose A Bad Habit

Which bad habits are bogging down your readers? And is there a bad habit you managed to beat and that they are longing to lose, too?

It’s no secret, for example, that we all struggle to keep our well-intentioned New Year resolutions. Can you share how you managed to keep those start-of-the-year promises to yourself? Or perhaps managed to give up checking Facebook every 15 minutes? Quit smoking successfully? Finally wrote that book / built that cubby-house for your kids / ran that marathon that you’d been procrastinating about for years?

My problem has always been perfectionism which can be paralyzing to productivity and getting things done. I wrote a post about my struggles and how I’m getting better at being kind to myself rather than trying to be perfect.

What battles and victories over bad habits could you share with your readers to help them?

Techniques to Tingle Your Brain

These are but a few of the techniques we use to overcome writer’s block. They shake up and wake up our brain and creativity. Remember, we’re all unique. We all see the world at least that little bit differently.

So, … what’s your story?

Still not sure where to start, and how to meet all your writing deadlines? Don’t worry. Just give us a buzz at hello@cavacom.biz – we’d love to chat and share some more ideas with you.