Do you ever sit down to write and feel like you’re trudging through mud to write even a few words on paper? Wondering if you’ll ever have a useful idea again? You may be experiencing writer’s block. This topic is mentioned often in my teleclass on how to write marketing materials and it happens to many of us, including myself.

One thing is for sure: the more I look hopefully at my computer screen, the less it works and the more frustrated I get. For me, the first thing I need to do is distract myself from the obsessive “I need to write but I can’t” focus.

I would like to share some of my favorite tips to get off the ground. I hope they give you some places to start thinking about what might work for you.

• Usually what works best for me is doing something physical to shift my energy, like going for a walk. It is not an “exercise at all costs” type of walk. That is too tense and intense. I take a gentle, slow walk around my neighborhood, stopping to notice the surroundings, listen to the birds, and pet the local cats that cross my path.
• Every now and then I put on an exercise CD with upbeat music and dance around the room to get my energy flowing.
• I often stay at my desk, put my writing aside, and switch to some mundane, mundane tasks for a while.
• Or I make a few phone calls – talking to other people always inspires me.
• Sometimes I write before writing. I write what goes through my head, uncensored and unadulterated. I write impulsively. I write until I feel empty. This clears clutter and random thoughts from my mind, helps me get through what’s underneath, and allows creative ideas to emerge. After a while, I’m back in the flow of words and can go back to the project I was stuck with.
• Reading a good copy from copywriters that I admire opens my mind again. Prime the pump and make the ideas leak out.
• When all else fails, I give myself permission to misspell. It takes the pressure off of having to produce the best sales persuasion piece the first time. (Yeah, that happens to me too!) It’s often a lot better than I thought and just needs to be tweaked to shape it.