I recently came across this question on a forum:
“I’m not a writer, I don’t make my living by writing. But I do depend on writers to do what I do. I work with writers on a regular basis.
What intriques me is how writers can consistently write when called apon to do so. I mean don’t writers have days when they feel down or uninspired?
How can you guys/gals do it? If you don’t feel good about where you’re at on a particular day headwise, then how can you produce good quality work when you’e just not into it?”
Which is a good question.
Something most writers will certainly face especially if you are writing daily like I recommend (with email marketing).
So what is the solution?
What do you do when you’re not in the “mood”?
And how do the best writers consistently crank out good pieces of writing day after day even when they don’t feel like it?
The answer is surprisingly simple and Eugene Schwartz taught this many years ago.
#1: Do the pre-work:
Most people struggle to write (whether it is emails, sales letters, landing pages, etc) because they simply don’t know WHAT to write.
Some call it “writer’s block” but that’s just a fancy term that does not exist and should not exist in your vocabulary.
If you’re not in the mood … go back to research. That’s the pre-work.
Your writing can only be as good as the “raw materials”. Learn more about your market … learn more about your product … research, research, research. And once you fully and internally understand the product and market, your copy will practically write itself.
#2: Use the 33–33 technique:
Admittedly, I haven’t done this recently, mostly because I don’t have to.
But if you are struggling to write copy, Eugene Schwartz taught the 33-minute, 33-second technique for writing.
Simply sit on your chair, open your laptop and start a timer for 33 minutes, 33 seconds. You are permitted to do anything you want relating to the piece of copy. You can stare at it … you can write … you can edit … you can delete … you can ignore it … BUT … you must not stand up from the chair until the timer goes off.
Seems simple but it is highly effective.
You are not trying to write a great piece of copy, a great email or a great sales letter. You are simply trying to write.
Write anything and everything that comes to mind in that 33-minute & 33-second time period, after which you take a 5-minute break (doing something to totally take your mind off the piece of copy), then rinse and repeat.
After doing 3–4 sets of that, you’ll find you have a piece of “copy”.
Would it be good copy? Bad copy? Terrible copy? I don’t know. But you will have something. Something you can now refine, edit and finetune to create a masterpiece.
More often than not, we just need momentum and after the first or second session, we enter into “flow” and it becomes way easier to write.
There you have it.
Eugene Schwartz’s secret to writing great copy even when you’re not in the mood.
For more marketing and copywriting tips like this, you can join my email list here: www.ikonmedia.net
You will also get my free book called “Your Email List is Your Wife” that shows 15 unpopular rules you must follow to have maximum response, sales and profit from your email marketing.
Fola.
