3 ways to beat the writing blahs

Facing a tight deadline, but can’t get inspired to compose inspiring copy? Here’s a cure for this common professional malady.

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Writer’s block. Writer’s malaise. Writer’s fatigue. Whatever you want to call it, chances are that you’ve stared at a blank page or screen with no inspiration—and even a sense of dread.

Here are three ways to beat the deadline blues and put pep back into your prose:

1. Change up your routine. We all get stuck in a rut. That’s especially understandable for communicators who write about the same topics every day—and in the same setting.

“How can you expect to come up with new, creative ideas if you do the same thing every single day?” asks Jenn Spantak, senior manager of employee experience operations at Honeywell. “Try something new!” 

[Learn to turn chaos into clarity with compelling and creative copy.]

Mary Olivieri, executive creative director at Colman, Brohan and Davis, says a simple walk can extricate you from your mental rut and stimulate your creativity.

“We tend to operate on autopilot behind our desks and use words like ‘solutions,’ ‘innovative’ and ‘best practices,’” she says. “You have to get out of your head to break the routine—and the quickest way to do that is to get out of the office.”

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