Many people struggle with writer’s block, especially when they are creating content for their business.
Content creation is a complicated process because it can be hard to develop ideas that resonate with your readers.
In this article, you’ll find five actionable tips to help you speed up your content writing process.
Don’t Overthink What You’re Writing
Creative minds have always found ways to break through writer’s block.
Whether by writing faster or more frequently — the key is not being afraid of your thoughts and just putting them down on paper before they disappear into thin air.
If you’re stuck at the idea phase:
Have an umbrella topic in mind, such as ‘marketing.’
Try conversing with yourself on paper or a word document. Ask questions about what you want to know.
For more depth, ask yourself the reasons behind not choosing to write on them.
If you’re stuck at the start of a piece:
You may be able to move your content writing process along by outlining your article first. An outline acts as a reminder of the touchpoints you need to make.
Article outlines also help ensure that nothing goes unfinished where there should have been more detail. Additionally, you’ll have a guide on how long each section has to be to create a cohesive narrative arc.
If you’re stuck somewhere in the middle or near the end:
Scrap that entire point you’ve been stuck on.
Removing chunks of your hard work will be challenging, but starting over may give you a fresh perspective in approaching the touchpoint.
If you had an outline prepared, you don’t have to worry about missing an important detail.
Write Daily
Writer’s block can be avoided by writing more often. It doesn’t feel so intimidating when you make it a daily routine. Here are three mini-goals that are easy to implement:
1) Write in a journal for 5 minutes every day
2) Keep a list of topics or prompts
3) Take some time out each week for brainstorming sessions
In short, it is sometimes your fear of not writing a good piece that makes those mental blocks stay up. At this stage, it doesn’t matter if what you’re writing is good or not; a writing routine will help keep those creative juices flowing.
Get Feedback
Sometimes asking for another person’s opinion can go a long way. Over-thinking about a topic by yourself can lead to dead-ends and frustration. You may find yourself caught in a negative thought loop, which hinders your progress.
Getting another person to brainstorm with you can broaden your mind. Ideas that you thought insignificant might be fresh and exciting to others.
In short, grab hold of a writer friend or anyone willing to go through the creative process with you. It can save you unnecessary stress.
Taking Breaks and Setting Realistic Deadlines
It doesn’t matter your profession – essay writer, designer, consultant, or anything in between.
Sometimes it can be hard to keep going when you’re hit with a full-blown case of writer’s block.
While there are plenty of tricks for getting out of this mental slump, sometimes the best thing we can do is put our work away for a little while until that fresh perspective kicks back into gear.
Set realistic deadlines and stick with them. Divide your work into manageable tasks and add them into checklists. Every milestone you achieve will give you the motivation to keep up the excellent work.
Read Content From the Same Niche
It’s time to look at your social media feed and see what people are discussing with each other.
The hashtag is an essential feature on social media. They are used to group posts with a common theme, and it’s where you can find exciting, trending topics.
LinkedIn is a popular platform for professionals to showcase their expertise and connect with others in similar fields. The social platform also has hashtags as part of its features, and you can use them to find out what businesses in your industry are writing or discussing.
This free google chrome extension can help you find the hashtags you’ll need quickly and easily.
Hashtags can be great for inspiration, but also spend some quality time reading other bloggers’ posts or blog content trending on social media sites. A little research might help you get out of your mental slump.
Conclusion
Content creation is a tricky process, but if you employ the tips from this article, it won’t be as challenging to put yourself out there and publish meaningful content for potential clients and customers.
Written by Sally Gan. She is Head of Marketing for FILT Pod, a community of business owners committed to driving each other’s brand forward on LinkedIn.