How to overcome writer’s block (5 tips that actually work!)

Have you ever gotten a bad case of writer’s block?

You sit there at the computer and stare at the blinking cursor for 30 minutes. Then an hour has passed. Then two hours. And your About page is still blank.

I hear you. You’re not alone.

This is something that everyone faces. Even the professionals.

So today, I want to share five tips with you that actually work to help you overcome writer’s block.

Here’s the thing, I think when most people (including me!) hit writer’s block it can be so tempting to take a little sneak peek at your competitor’s site. Anyone else guilty? There’s no shame if you’ve done so in the past. But the truth is, it’s really not helpful for a couple of reasons.

The first reason being that your dream clients are not their dream clients. And two, your brand voice is not their brand voice. You might see the fancy flowery language on their website, but maybe that’s not the way you actually talk. The last thing you want to do is start incorporating their language into your copy because it will lose its authenticity. And I know from speaking to so many people within my community, that you want copy that sounds more you. So if you want copy and language that is authentic, then let’s not look at our competitor’s content anymore.

Instead, here are my tips for overcoming writer’s block…

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1. Research your dream clients

My number one tip is to research your dream clients. Because the fastest way to cure writer’s block is by going back to the drawing board and learning more about your dream clients and what they’re thinking.

Now, I have a very specific method that I recommend for this research phase.

Most people research by sitting down and observing their dream clients. They write down facts and features about their dream clients and look at their Instagram account, then think that they know everything about their dream client. But really, all they’ve done is make observations and assumptions. And most times their dream clients will probably be thinking something completely different to what they’ve assumed, so this isn’t an effective approach to take with your clients.

Instead of doing that, I recommend doing deep research by actually interviewing your dream clients. By using specific types of questions to guide the conversation, you can discover their struggles and desires and what they actually think about aspects of your industry.

Once we’ve done the research and really understand your dream client, all of a sudden you will have a thousand different ideas on what you’d like to write! And you will be able to use your dream client’s actual language in your website copy, which is going to connect with them so much more.

So if you have writer’s block, I encourage you to first go back to the drawing board and definitely start with client research.

2. Create your brand messaging

My next tip is to create brand messaging, which is the second part of my Dream Client Attraction System. This is so important because oftentimes people don’t know how to explain what they do.

Has someone ever asked you what you do and you had no idea how to describe your work? At least not in a way that sounded really attractive and unique and would actually gonna compel someone to choose you.

Well I want your clients to choose you first. I want your brand messaging to be so amazing that when people think of the person that they want to hire within your niche, they go to you because your messaging is so compelling. And when you have brand messaging, this allows you to draw on this unique language and actually input it into your copy.

Your brand messaging includes your mission statement, core values, value proposition, words and phrases bank and voice of customer data. With all of this, you won’t be writing copy from scratch, but rather you will have powerful information that you can draw from.

This will greatly help you overcome writer’s block and sound exactly like the expert you are.

3. Use proven to convert copywriting principles

The third thing that I recommend doing to overcome writer’s block is to write your copy using proven to convert copywriting principles and formulas.

I find that the way a lot of people approach writing their website copy is to basically just sit down and write what feels good to them in the moment. They go back and forth between adding and removing sections until eventually, writer’s block hits. But you can remove all of the guesswork by using proven to convert copywriting principles and formulas.

Writing your copy should be like putting together a puzzle. Each piece will have it’s specific spot. No guessing involved. Writing your copy should also be the last step in your copywriting process, so that you will have collected all of the information you need. That’s why I recommend you start with research first and then creating your brand messaging.

And I recommend writing your copy in a Google doc, so that when it comes to adding copy to your website, all you have to do is format your words.

4. Edit, edit, edit

This takes me to tip number four- edit, edit, edit. And then edit some more. The pros do it, and so do I.

Sometimes that might mean that you write a draft of your copy and then take a break. I know, crazy idea. But you don’t have to do it all in one go. You can revisit your copy the next day, with fresh eyes. Or even have someone else look over it for you. No matter how many drafts you need to write, keep editing until you’re super happy with your copy.

5. Change your environment

And finally, tip number five. Write at a time and in an environment where you feel focused and creative.

Consider when your best window of working time is. Is it between 9 and 10pm? Or 7 and 9am? You want to choose a time that you know you will have energy and be able to focus.

Or you may need to change up your environment, especially if you work from home or in the same environment all the time. You could go to a coffee shop or a library, anywhere you like really. It’s incredible what it can do for you. You will probably even find that you get more work done than you usually do.

And they are my top five tips for overcoming writer’s block.

I just really want to drive home that writing your copy should not be like throwing spaghetti at a wall and seeing what sticks. Instead, I encourage you to find and use a system that will allow you to stop staring at a blinking cursor and will allow you to actually write words that convert. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts

Thanks for reading this post! I hope you found it valuable. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment down below and let me know what you found most helpful or surprising about overcoming writer’s block!