Blast Past Writer's Block Like A Keg O' Dynamite

By Author: Kenneth Hall
Total Articles: 38
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Recently I asked my list of copywriters and entrepreneurs what their biggest problem with writing copy was. Wanna know what the overwhelming answer was? Fighting writer's block. Yup, writer's block seems to be an equal opportunity pain in the butt. But plenty of stuff gets written. So how do others battle it? Peter DeVries (another writer) said, "I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning."
Even Albert Einstein said this, "How do I work? I grope." You know it ain't easy when geniuses have the same problems as you and me. In fact, even as I sit here, supposedly writing, I keep getting distracted. Who emailed me? Who's online? What other research can I do? Don't I need to call my mother? Boy, my dog sure needs to go out and play. Am I hungry? Nah, but that's okay. I'll check out what's in the fridge anyway. Sound familiar? So in the interest of finding an answer myself, I'm going to share with you lessons I learned about banishing the block.
1. ELIMINATE ALL (AND I MEAN "ALL") DISTRACTIONS At the beginning of each week, block an hour or two every day for your work. Do ...
... not schedule lunches, workouts, shopping trips or errands during that time. You're on the clock, comrade. Turn off your email, instant messengers and phones. Do NOT allow yourself to be tempted. The writing gods will know if you cheat.
2. FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR TIMER Marketing master, Eugene Schwartz never went anywhere without his timer. He was partial to the numbers "3-3-3--3," which means 33 minutes and 33 seconds. He believed you can only hold your focus for a limited amount of time before your brain "drops dead on you." After you work straight for 33.33 minutes, you're required to take a 5 minute break.
3. ZEN OF WRITING Ole Eugene also believed writer's block was more of a Western world condition than an Eastern one. That's because 4,000 years ago, Zen Buddhists came up with a simple routine. Sit down where you're doing your writing - on your computer or at a desk with a pad of paper. Are you sitting? Okay, that's what you get to do for the next 33.33 minutes (or whatever time chunk works for you). Now do nothing else. For the next 33.33 minutes, it's all about you and the blank paper. You don't have to write anything. You can stare at the screen if you want to. Write gibberish. Begin the great American novel. But what you CAN'T do is anything else. You may NOT leave that spot for 33.33 minutes. Don't worry. You're bound to get bored enough to get started -- and that's usually all we need.
4. STOP IN THE MIDDLE Some writers like to stop their creating in mid-thought or mid-sentence. Then you're not faced with a blank canvas when you return to your writing -- assuming you can remember what you were thinking about to begin with.
5. START IN THE MIDDLE Sometimes, we get so uptight about finding the brilliant hook to open the copy with, we paralyze ourselves. Stop it. Just dive in. Start writing. Edit later. The best copy comes from overwriting anyway. If you need a little inspiration, try writing out the features and benefits of your product.
I hope some of these tips help jumpstart your writing. There's nothing worse than staring down a wordless document.

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