1. TRADE TIPS:
HOW TO OVERCOME
WRITER’S BLOCK
By Nicole Hayes

2. If you were the sixth grader who wrote
creative mysteries that dazzled teachers
and won high positioning on your
family's home refrigerator (like me),
congratulations.

3. Fast forward to today where
you’ve been asked to write a
press release or op-ed and you
struggle to find the words to
begin.

4. Take heart because you are among the
best and rest of us. You are
experiencing the common, frustrating
symptom of writer's block.

5. Rest easy because Heidi
Cohen of PR Daily offers 21 tips
to keeping your writing sharp

6. 1. Create a list of articles you want
to write but don't have time.
It's easy to get inspired about other
topics when the pressure's on to write
about something else. There's nothing
like a deadline to make anything else
seem exciting.

7. 2. Feed your mind.
Read a book, blogs or news sites to
get ideas. This isn't an excuse to get
a snack or other indulgence.

8. 3. Develop a story around a trending
topic,
even if it's not your area of focus.
The objective is to find a way to write
about the hot topic. This can be useful
when you need to keep your content
relevant.

9. 4. Keep a swipe file.
Sign up for a range of newsletters that
focus on your beat to see what other
writers and bloggers cover. Save articles
that provide new insights or formats for
inspiration. This doesn't mean you
should
copy someone else's ideas or articles.

10. 5. Collect relevant questions
about your topic.
Think like you're writing an endless
FAQ. A list of questions gives you a
hook
to build your content around. This is
particularly useful for blogs and
company content.

11. 6. Get a head start.
Before you quit a writing session, write
down the ideas you have for the next
one. Form them into an outline and
add it to your current document to make
it easy for you to pick up where you left off.

12. 7. Remove distractions.
Close your social media sites, chat
and email. It's useful to have a
dedicated space for writing.

13. 8. Make an appointment to write.
Set your timer or alarm for a
specific time. That's when you
have to start writing.

14. 9. Change writing environments.
If you always write at your kitchen
table, try writing at a coffee shop or
local library.

15. 10. Seek inspiration.
Do something that provides you with
a muse. Go to a play or museum.

16. 11. Write a piece using
someone else's title.
The goal isn't to steal another
writer's work, but to force yourself
to write with someone else's
framework. You can also do this with
one of your own articles. Force
yourself to write a second piece that's
completely different from the first
but has the same title.

17. 12. Tell a story.
One way to make your writing
memorable is to turn it into a story.
Include a beginning, middle and end.
Even if you're writing about research,
you need to make it memorable.
Here are some storytelling tips
and inspiration for 29 types of
corporate stories.

18. 13. Break complex topics into
smaller chunks.
Sometimes you need to have more
manageable goals. A complicated
topic might work well if you divide it
into multiple targeted topics.

19. 14. Start where the energy is.
You don't have to write everything in
order or start at the beginning. Begin
where you're inspired.

20. 15. Leave room for discussion.
You don't need to say everything
there is to say about your topic.

21. 16. Use a human voice.
When you read your writing, does it
sound like something a real person
would say or did you let it devolve
into corporate gibberish? If your
writing is boring, people won't read it
no matter how important your points
are.

22. 17. Write in an active voice.
The goal is to make your writing as
strong as possible. Your article will
lose a lot of vitality if you overuse
the passive voice.

23. 18. Skip the four letter words.
While it's good to use a human voice,
it's poor form to fill your writing with a
lot of slang and curses. Although
they attract attention, it's not
always the type you want.

24. 19. Let it rest.
If you've been pounding away on a
piece for a while, take a break. This
doesn't mean you should abandon
your work. Get the main points down
and wait a bit before you edit.

25. 20. Read your article out loud.
It's amazing how many
errors you'll find.

26. 21. Check your spelling and usage.
While most people write on a
computer, it's critical to make sure
you used the correct words. Spell
checkers can't
tell the difference between they're,
their or there since all three
are spelled correctly.

27. We hope these suggestions give
you more hope and less frustration
in the journey of writing!

28. This presentation was originally published
on our Voice Matters Blog.
To learn more about McKinney & Associates,
visit www.mckpr.com
McKinney & Associates was founded in 1990 with a commitment to social
justice that has prevailed for more than 20 years. From the beginning,
McKinney passionately and skillfully practiced Public Relations with a
Conscience for local, national and international organizations involved in
public policy and social advocacy. The firm has grown strategically, adding
practice areas, maturity and a strategic core to meet the needs of clients.
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