Here’s Your Quick, Kick-Ass Copy and Content Creation Tip for Today!
Do you sometimes have trouble getting started when you sit down to write a blog post or an article or a sales page or any kind of marketing content?
Sometimes, it can be hard to start your engines and get moving when it comes to writing certain content or materials. There’s that initial drag of resistance, that voice inside that says, “Aw, man! This is going to be tough.”
Okay, well, I have a tip for you that’s going to help. A lot.
Here it is:
Make A Mess of It!
Sit down and make a mess of it! Let your ideas and thoughts just flow onto that paper, in no particular order and without any editing or restriction. As I often tell my clients, “Just vomit it all out onto the page.” Let it be a stinky mess!
See, if you try to make your first draft be all pretty and perfect, you’ll choke on every other word! You’ll dam up the creative flow before it even has a chance to gush through. AND… you’ll make the process so much harder and heavier.
Instead, give yourself permission to write a really crappy first draft. Just sit down with pen and paper (or with fingers and keyboard) and go!
Sometimes, you’ll be rushed for time and you’ll say to yourself, “Oh, I’ve got to get this puppy right the first time. I need to finish this fast!” So, you’ll try to write and edit at the same time, thinking that this is a quicker way to go. But it’s not. You will spend more time if you try to make it shiny and perfect the first time through. Really.
Plus, when you let yourself write without restriction, without stopping to edit or correct this and that, you open the creative channel to receive more ideas and impulses, many of which would never make to the page if you tried to write a perfect first draft. I find that when I let myself write and write and write, without editing, I end up with more worthwhile ideas and creative gems. And I enjoy the process a lot more, too.
So, first, make a mess of it!
Once you’ve spilled it all out onto the page, go back and circle all the juicy parts. Then, from those juicy parts, create a great second (and perhaps, final) draft.
Give it a go and see what happens. Just let it rip the first time through. Don’t stop to edit or second guess yourself. Then, go back and clean it up.
And let me know how it goes by leaving a comment below. I’d love to hear how your writing, or your resistance to writing, changes by making a mess of your first draft.