Posted by: Daniel Levis
July 7, 2010
Issue #961

8 Proven Ways To
Slap Writer’s Block Silly …
And Get Into The "Flow State"

Dear Web Business–Builder:

Let’s face it, writing all of the kick ass copy you need to grow your business by leaps and bounds is damn hard work. If it weren’t … heck, every Tom, Dick, Jane and Harry would be doing it, right?

But wouldn’t it be great to have a few tricks up your sleeve to blast through those times when the going gets tough?

You know what I’m talking about – the keys to the kingdom are right there, staring you in the face – all you’ve got to do is tickle the ivories on your computer keyboard and your fortune’s sealed. But you’re stuck. BLOCKED!

Doesn’t it frustrate the living daylights out of you?

Well take heart, because today in Web Marketing Advisor we’re going to slap writer’s block silly. We’re going to kick its sorry little heinie right around the block 8 ways to Sunday … and show you how to get into the "flow state" that’ll make you RICH!

Way 1 – Often times when you’re blocked, it just means you haven’t thought through the subject you’re writing about thoroughly enough. You haven’t looked at it from enough angles …

How do you fix this? Simple, you just start filling your subconscious mind with raw material. Follow the Charlie Tremendous Jones method. Read. Think. Share.

Just start reading everything you can find about the subject at hand. Keep doing it for days if you have to. Don’t stop until you have one of those aha moments. What’s an aha moment? It’s that unmistakable feeling that a light bulb just went off in your brain. All of a sudden, you’ll be compelled to write. Why does this happen?

Because as you’ve been reading, your subconscious mind has been making connections. That’s what it does, but it can’t make those connections if there’s nothing to connect. Feed your subconscious with plenty of fuel, and it’s far more likely to slip into that flow state that touches off a writing frenzy.

Way 2 – Imagine for a moment that your monitor is a mirror, and you’re blocked. What kind of an expression is on your face? How is your posture? What kind of self–talk is going on between your ears? Please, really do this. Can you see yourself there? Good.

Now let’s try that again.

This time, think of a time when your tail was waggin’ – you were high as a kite because you’d just had the best writing session of your entire life! One great idea after another just flowed from your fingertips effortlessly onto the page. You were hot! Are you there? How do you look – any different? You bet!

Your whole physiology changed, didn’t it?

Now you have a tactic to use the next time you’re blocked. Simply change your physiology into the hyper–productive speed copywriting demon you really are! The great writing will follow.

Way 3 – This should be obvious, but I’ll include it anyway. Start leafing through your swipe file. Take a few minutes to see how other great copywriters solved a problem.

Take note of how they found a way to enter the conversation that was already taking place in their prospect’s minds, and draw parallels to the project you’re working on.

If you see something you really like, stop for a moment and describe what the writer did. Write your description down. For example, if the copy in your swipe file reads …

In just fifteen minutes, I’ll show how this "curse" of rising gas prices could well be your greatest financial gift ever.

You’ll be laughing all the way to the gas pump – IF you play your cards right … and if you act NOW!

You describe it as …

1 – The prospect is grumbling about something, so the copywriter enters the conversation by reminding him of it … and then surprises the prospect by saying this bad thing he’s grumbling about is actually a good thing, the best thing! A huge opportunity …

2 – Then the copywriter describes how the prospect won’t be grumbling any more if he takes advantage of that opportunity. Quite the opposite in fact, he’ll be laughing.

After you’ve deconstructed the copy, you simply draw a parallel to your prospect and the product you’re selling. If it doesn’t work, keep flipping through your swipe file until you find something that does.

It pays huge dividends to have the biggest swipe file possible. Just make sure it only contains the best of the best for you to model. The Steal These Secrets Swipe File is a must.

Way 4 – This technique is probably the most powerful of all for unlocking your creative ability and getting your copy written fast. It involves giving your subconscious mind explicit instructions to work on your copy while you are AWAY from your computer.

Is it a magic pill? No. But if you use this technique in conjunction with all of the others on this page, it will work wonders for you. The results will astound you.

Here’s how it works. Before you leave your computer, give yourself a very explicit command, such as. "I’m logging off for the night. I’ll be back at this tomorrow morning at 10am. In the meantime, I’m handing the responsibility over to you, Sub, to develop a theme for this promotion.

All of the spadework has been done. I’ve looked at this problem from umpteen different angles. Now it’s your turn. By morning, I expect a powerful theme from you for this promotion."

I know this sounds a little metaphysical to be sure, but try it. Like anything else, it’s a skill that takes practice, discipline, and faith. Trust me, it is worth it. Be sure to keep a note pad and paper with you when you’re away from your computer. A million dollar idea comes to you in a flash, and it can disappear just as quickly.

Way 5 – You have ideas, they're just not good ones. How do you strengthen them?

Well, you can turn the literal into the figurative through storytelling and metaphor. You can look for surprising facts and figures to bring your copy to life, giving it form and dimension.

You can add the element of surprise, creating a paradox that will hook your reader and reel him into your copy.

For example, I recently wrote a teaser email for a promotion that essentially said:

"If you're driving traffic to your website with Google Adwords, your goal should be to pay more for your clicks than anybody else."

Most people are putzing around with their Adwords accounts trying to reduce their per click costs – not increase them – so they immediately do a double take when they read this. They’re compelled to read on to find out what it’s about, and bingo, they’re engaged.

Another great way to strengthen an idea is to divide it up into parts. Turn it into a list. For some reason people love numbered lists. Don’t ask me why, they just do. Any argument can be presented this way.

Or combine your idea with another idea to make it more interesting, by drawing an analogy. Relate your idea to something that’s very familiar to your prospects, or to something in the news they’re likely to be thinking about.

Turn your writing into a game of free association, and in no time you’ll have something down on the page that will truly inspire you, and you’ll be in flow.

Way 6 – Swiss Cheese it. Poke holes in your writing project to conquer it in multiple sittings.

Each time you sit down, set yourself a goal: A page, a section, a reason, a way, whatever … or at the very least, set a timer and refuse to be uninterrupted for a set period of time. You’d be amazed at how effective this is. Why?

Because each time you come back to a particular piece of copy, you literally see it with fresh eyes. You read it from the top and you get ideas that you would never have had if you had forced yourself to write it all in one sitting.

At any point in time, I’ve got six or seven projects that I’m working on and I just alternate from one to the other, usually in one–hour blocks. Works wonders.

Way 7 – Just let go and have fun. Give yourself permission to suck!

Let your hair down, slay the internal editor – murder the bastard – and allow your creativity to flow. There is no such thing as bad copy. It’s a night at the Improv … one thing leads to another … before you know it, your page is full.

Somewhere in that gibberish is a sign from your unconscious, a clue – a lead that’s trying to point you to the gold! Follow it …

Peter Stone probably said it best. Write fearlessly, edit ruthlessly. After all, nobody has to see what you write. Nobody can criticize it. Think quantity over quality. Just keep writing like a banshee, don’t stop, have fun. Unlock your inner child.

Joe Vitale feels so strongly about this he had a tool developed that makes his monitor go black while he’s writing. He literally can’t see what he’s writing, until he tells the software to let him see it. He calls this unconscious directed writing.

It’s comes free in his Hypnotic Writing Wizard.

Way 8 – Keep your eye on the prize. While you’re writing, keep your mind focused on the reasons why you’re doing it.

If you’re writing a promotion, you’re writing that promotion for a reason. You want to make sales, right? Not just a few, a bunch! More than that, you’re doing it because of the income, the recognition, and the financial freedom those sales bring.

Yet if you’re blocked, I’m willing to bet you’re no longer thinking about those things, are you? Temporarily, you’ve forgotten about them.

Remember them. Take a few moments to visualize how great that promotion is going to make your life when it hits. Imagine yourself taking that elated call from your client and having him tell you how you bludgeoned his control right out of the ring with your challenger copy.

Picture yourself going to the bank to cash that 6–figure royalty check … heading off to buy that brand new car you’re lusting after … and knocking off for the rest of the week!

Get your head on straight, and you’ll find yourself loosening up, and ideas will come to you much more quickly and easily.

Until next time, Good Selling!

Daniel Levis
Editor, The Web Marketing Advisor
THE TOTAL PACKAGE

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8 Comments »

1. Comment by Vin Montello — July 7, 2010 @ 9:20 am

   Daniel,

   Have to say I never tried #4 before. But I will now.

   Thanks!

   Vin Montello

2. Comment by Len — July 7, 2010 @ 9:59 am

   DANIEL - Great article. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of #2 … I’ll have to add that to my list. Thanks!

   VIN - Like Daniel says, #4 is extremely powerful. It’s probably the 2nd-best productivity booster in my arsenal, right after using an outline to keep me focused and on track. I sometimes find it hard to stop beating the dead horse and walk away for the night … but when I do, I always come back bursting with ideas and creativity. Try it — it works. =^)

3. Comment by Shane Arthur — July 7, 2010 @ 11:09 am

   Love the advice (as always).

   And I could not agree more about #7. I believe writers lose the love of writing when writing for money, and that’s a shame. (and not to plug myself, but also one of the reasons I started a creative writing site to cure writer’s block. Click on my name to see). Get the love back and writer’s block becomes a thing of the past.

4. Pingback by 8 top ways to beat writer’s block. | The Copy Maverick — July 9, 2010 @ 3:15 pm

   [...] 8 Proven Ways To Slap Writer’s Block Silly … And Get Into The “Flo… [...]

5. Comment by David McCauley — July 9, 2010 @ 9:19 pm

   Daniel-

   I would like to offer a 9th way. I get the block from time to time, and I use some of the ideas you suggest to get out of it, but sometimes I use another idea. Literally.

   For example, the other day my eyes were getting blurred while looking at some copy I was writing. it was bugging me a little, and becoming a big distraction. So I went to the kitchen for lunch, and realized my glasses needed a cleaning.

   As I was cleaning the glasses, I remembered they were made of plastic, not glass, and they had a few scratches. I then wondered if my warranty I paid for was still valid to get the scratches fixed. Nope. But for $60 and an annoying trip to the optomotrist, they will look as good as new. That is when the lightning bolt hit.

   Why wasn’t there a simple spray bottle I could have on hand to fix my own scratches? Not only would it solve my problem, save some money and an unnecessary road trip, but possibly solve the same issue Millions of people have that wear plastic lenses!

   While eating lunch, I let the idea turn into concept and followed it thru… securing product, creating a name, determinng where to advertise, etc. All of a sudden Billie Mays came to mind, then infomercials. I mentally wrote a script, defined the product, targeted the appropriate audience, visioned the telephone sales pitch and printed advertisments.

   I also used my skeptic nature and tried to figure out how to sell it to the hardest customer of all - Me. If I can convince Me to buy it, I could convince anyone.

   Needless to say, my creativity got really jazzed.

   After lunch I sat back down to the project at hand, and before I knew it, I had 5 pages of copy written. It needs some polishing, as par for the course, but I broke the block.

   I use this practice from time to time, and have always been able to tap into the creative cosmos.

6. Comment by walter daniels — July 11, 2010 @ 3:18 pm

   I’ve always read all the time, so I can find information in memory about almost anything.:-) If you are al.ways reading, and looking for information, you will always have a basis to start from. Then, you can suck, write drivel, or brilliantly, from there.

7. Comment by Scott — July 12, 2010 @ 2:25 am

   I think I might have an auto #4. Which doesn’t really work in my favour all the time. I find myself getting to a block or stuck point, and just automatically getting up and away from the computer to get a drink or make something to eat.

   I’m overcoming it and getting more done as a result but I notice it just happens and sometimes it gives me just enough room for the answer to come to me.

8. Comment by Solomon — July 13, 2010 @ 12:04 am

   Hi Daniel,

   Great points to get into the flow mode. Thanks for the great read, I really enjoyed it and it is very very useful!
   Solomon