Before you immediately assume you’ve read this post a million times before: You haven’t.
And there are, to be sure, a million posts about overcoming writer’s block. And they’re full of legitimately good advice. Trying to write a paper or an article or a book or a blog post, and you find yourself stuck? Sleep on it! Find the time of day you’re most creative! Set a schedule! Read everything! Go do something else for a while! Legitimately good. I myself have sat down to write many a longer-form piece on the couch at 11pm as the world sleeps and my AuDHD shifts into hyperfocus.
But writer’s block as a creative copywriter is a different animal. Not easier, not harder, but different. It’s a different kind of writing. We’re generally working on tighter deadlines (often much tighter) than other kinds of writers. There isn’t a lot of wiggle room, or room to make up for lost time as you sit there staring at a blank page. And as that deadline fades into the rear distance, you have other members of the creative team who might be absolutely brilliant and completely creatively unblocked themselves but can’t do their job until you’ve done yours waiting for you to do your job, and the guilt of letting them down isn’t at all contributing to your inability to get the ideas flowing.
And we’re goal-oriented. The writing we do isn’t just supposed to entertain and/or inform — it’s supposed to compel. It’s got a CTA attached to it. The work is expected to attain specific objectives, and they’re written right there on a brief that everyone’s looked at and signed off on, and they’re probably going to be tracked by some KPIs, too. So, y’know, no pressure there, either.
Now, if you are on the kind of project that allows you time to sleep on your writer’s block and schedule around your most creative times, definitely go for that. But not every project is that kind of project. Some projects are suck-it-up-and-get-the-copy-to-me-by-EOD projects. So for those projects, here are seven tips for overcoming copywriter’s block when that blank page is taunting you, SHUT UP, BLANK PAGE, I’M NOT A FAILURE, YOU’RE A FAILURE, YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE WORDS ON YOU, YOU’RE A SORRY EXCUSE FOR A PAGE AND I NEVER LIKED YOU.
1. Go back to the brief.
(And you are going back to the brief, right? Because you read it in the first place?)
If you’re stuck for ideas, the simplest first step is to re-read the brief, top to bottom. It’s probably not going to give you any creative inspiration, and if you read it thoroughly in the first place, it’s not going to give you any new information. But it can help you refocus. It can remind you about what you’re trying to accomplish (because, again, we’re a goal-oriented bunch in this field), who you’re speaking for, and who you’re trying to speak to. When your brain is scrambled with your own words and sauteed in failure sauce, it can help to go back to the starting point and look at where the facts are all laid out for you in a neat li’l outline.
2. Write something down.
It’s the second tip, but it’s the actual easiest: Just write something. (Ideally, something related to the project at hand, please.) The judgmental glare of the blank page is a motherfucker. Retype part of the brief, paste some of your research in there, start with the CTA, jot down some random notes. Write some quick, lazy-ass copy that you know full well is absolute crap but at least satisfies the brief. Just get some words on the page, so you aren’t trying to come up with ideas whilst staring at the evidence that you don’t have any.
3. Talk it out with other creatives.
I mean, yeah, this one’s obvious, but it’s still going on the list: Talk with your damn team. You’re part of a creative team for a reason, you’re all in this together, you’re working to create something cohesive and coherent anyway, and they know what it’s like to be creatively blocked. They know it’s not something you can control, and they know you’re probably feeling some feelings about it, because they’ve been there, so they’re not going to judge. (Probably. If they do, you’ve got some dicks on your creative team.) Tell them you’re blocked, talk it over to see if you can identify how and/or why you’re blocked, and then bounce ideas off each other until a good one shakes loose.
Teammate(s) not available for whatever reason? Find some creative to talk to. Brief them on the work and see if their fresh eyes/brain and distance from the problem can provide some perspective you’ve been lacking in your frazzled state. (And then buy them a coffee or something. They’re doing you a favor.)
4. Get to know your audience.
If you’re struggling with what to say to your audience, maybe it’s because you aren’t really talking to them — maybe they aren’t real enough yet for your brain to try to communicate with on a personal level. So get to know them better. Do some research into how they interact with the product or service you’re selling ‘em, but also completely unrelated stuff. What kind of TV do they watch? What music do they listen to? What do you have in common? What has the news media recently accused them of causing the end of? (Is it mayonnaise?) What stereotypes do they struggle against? Google around. Read some blog posts and articles and forums — and be sure to hit up sources where they’re talking about themselves, and it’s not just someone else talking about them.
If you’re really floundering, you might even take what you’ve learned and synthesize it into a person with a name and a backstory and a profile, and write for that imaginary person. You never know what’s going to make things click, and it could be that knowing their favorite Real Housewife is the connection you need to jump-start your copy.
5. See what everyone else is doing.
No, you don’t want to do what everyone else is doing — that negates the purpose of trying to be creative. “What everyone else is doing” isn’t going to make your client’s brand stand out. But if you’re stuck for ideas, using “what everyone else is doing” as a jumping-off point is better than no jumping-off point at all. Google around to see what competitors have done, what comparable brands in other industries have done, what’s gotten positive (or even negative — see below) attention in the past. You’re not stealing — you’re just looking for inspiration, and when you’re done, you’re going to look back at your original inspiration and make sure you haven’t actually stolen from it, because again, if you’re not being creative, you’re not… y’know, being creative.
6. Start with bad ideas.
At this point in your ordeal, you might be thinking, Yeah, I have a whole list of bad ideas right here in front of me, thanks. But those are unwanted and unwelcome bad ideas. Now, it’s time to lean into it. Now, you’re thinking about the worst ideas. You’re wracking your brain for the wrong answer. If a good idea pops into your head, you’re going to write it down, because good ideas shouldn’t go to waste, but then you’re getting right back down to the ideas that would get you laughed at, canceled, and/or arrested. And when you’re completely tapped out for bad ideas, then you can go back to thinking up good ones.
When I’m leading a brainstorming session, I always start out with a few minutes of the worst ideas we can collectively think of. And that’s because we’re so accustomed to thinking of ideas that will work, that will be accepted, that are easy to execute, and building ourselves artificial guardrails based on what we’ve already done in the past. And that’s fine, except it keeps us away from the ideas that are themselves nonviable, but that can be tweaked and scoped and budgeted into something that is viable and is novel and attention-grabbing. Starting with bad ideas lets us stretch our creative legs and gets us moving without the guardrails in place, so we can really think creatively without arbitrary limitations. So if you’re stuck for good ideas, set that aside and start thinking up some really awful ones.
7. Do something else.
I know, I just finished saying you don’t always have the luxury of time when you’re writing copy on a tight deadline. “Put it aside and try again tomorrow” isn’t always an option. So your “something else” is probably going to have to be a quick something. If you have the time to take a walk or do a pilates flow or something to get out of your head, that could help with distraction and dopamine. If you’re working from home, maybe take a shower or brush your teeth or do some dishes — one interesting study says a low level of background noise can actually contribute to creativity, and ‘round about the volume of a running shower is great for getting the job done. Combine that with brain-distracting busy work, and you could end up with fresh ideas and clean dishes.
In a real time crunch, just try changing something. Put on comfier clothes (or, for that matter, less-comfy clothes). Drink tea instead of coffee. Take your work into a different room. Write with pen and paper instead of your computer. If you’re already working on paper, write in cursive instead of printing. When I’m stuck, I’ve been known to pour myself a wine glass full of energy drink (I’m partial to the orange Rockstar Recovery) — my ADHD likes the stimulant, and the glass is something I don’t usually drink out of during the workday. It’s a matter of giving your brain something to think about other than how screwed you are ‘cause you can’t write this copy.
Every creative has been there.
Seriously, we all have, and like I said, anyone who judges you for a) experiencing copywriter’s block, and b) needing some help to get out of it is a real dick. I’ve certainly been there. I’m not going to say I’m writing this very blog post instead of a series of emails that are due to the client by EOD, but I’m not going to say I’m not doing that. And I hope these tips are helpful in breaking through the block and getting that brilliant copy flowing like water.
And if you have any of your own tips for overcoming copywriter’s block, please drop them in comments. I’ma be honest, my dishes are clean, my teeth are clean, my entire body is exfoliated, I have a steno pad full of bad ideas written in cursive, and those emails remain unwritten. It’s… not great.