Six Great Ways to Dissolve Your Writer’s Block

Have you ever found yourself staring at the blinking cursor on your blank computer screen as it ticks away the seconds toward your looming deadline, but still can’t think of anything to write?  You’re not alone:  Writers block affects almost everyone from time to time, whether you’re young or old, an inexperienced newbie or an old pro.  Luckily, writer’s block has affected enough writers that people have come up with a number of different things that you can try to overcome it.  Some might not be what you would expect but when you’ve got a deadline looming you’re probably willing to give anything a try.  Here are some tips that we resort to when we just can’t seem to get things going.

1. Arrange an Impromptu Brainstorming Session:  Gather a small handful of your colleagues and start throwing ideas around.  They don’t have to be good ideas; the aim is to give you a shove in the right direction and the spontaneity of an impromptu group brainstorming session might just do the trick.
2. Just Start Writing:  Write about anything - what you had for breakfast, a conversation you had with a colleague, a list of groceries that you need to pick up on the way home or a to-do list for the weekend.  William Stafford, a poet, once wrote, “There is no such thing as writer’s block for writers whose standards are low enough.”  This is not to suggest that you should aim to lower your standards but if drivel is what it takes to get you going then bring it on!  A page of drivel can be shaped into something brilliant, but a blank sheet of paper will remain blank until you get over yourself and write something.
3. Stop Writing:  OK, didn’t we just tell you to start writing?  Now we’re suggesting you stop writing?  Do you wish we’d make up our minds?  At the other end of the spectrum is to not try and force the issue but to do something else that is totally unrelated to your writing assignment.  This takes a bit of guts – you’ve got a pressing deadline and we’re suggesting that you ignore the task at hand.  Actually, we’re confident in your subconscious’ ability to work on something while you’re focusing on something else.  Have you ever tried so hard to remember the name of an actor in a movie but you just can’t, and then while you’re brushing your teeth that night it comes to you?  That’s your subconscious at work.  Your subconscious is very powerful and if you leave it to wrestle with your writing assignment while you’re concentrating on something else you might be surprised with what you come up with.
4. Look for Fresh Surroundings:  Being stuck at the same desk in the same office looking at the same faces might not be the best way to stoke your creativity.  So change things up a bit by packing up and heading somewhere different.  Coffee shops are great places and many offer free Wi-Fi if you don’t want to totally be out of contact or if you need to look something up.  This article describes a recent study that concluded that the moderate ambient noise of a coffee shop enhanced subjects’ performance on a creative task.  Alternately, head to a park and watch the world go by - you just might find that your writer’s block starts to dissolve.
5. Jump Right Into the Middle:  If you’ve got an idea of the overall flow of what you have to produce, start somewhere apart from the beginning and just get going.  Chances are the pieces will start falling into place one at a time and once you’ve got some momentum revisiting that part that was stumping you won’t seem so helpless.  When we’re writing sales proposals, for example, we often start with the pricing section, one of the last sections of the proposal, and then work backwards.  Often the Executive Summary is one of the last pieces that we write even though it’s the first page of the document.
6. Get Moving:  As goes the body so goes the mind.  If you’re sitting at your computer screen and your brain is stalled, jump up and get active.  Go for a walk around the block, do some stretching, or throw a foam stress ball around with a couple of colleagues.  (Disclaimer: you didn’t get the idea here if you break something!)  Moving your body, particularly in a repetitive way, often gets your mind in action as well.

Writer’s block affects us all at one time or another and the more you try and pressure yourself into powering past it the more strangling it can become.  The points above will hopefully help motivate, energize and even distract you enough to make your writer’s block a thing of the past.

Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.


Amanda Hartley, Managing Partner
Fering Communications Inc.
Website: www.feringcommunications.com
Email: amanda.hartley@feringcommunications.com

Social Media and Content Marketing: In-house or Outsource?

There are lots of different opinions on whether you should use in-house resources to quarterback your social media and content marketing presence or whether it’s better to use an outside company.  At Fering Communications, we humbly submit that using an external company gives you the best advantage.  Here are five good reasons why:

1. You’ve Got Better Things to Do:  Honestly, you do.  If you’re like most people I know, you’ve got a million things to do and that’s when you’re not busy.  Setting up and implementing a social media strategy is seldom going to make it to the top of your to-do list.  Luckily, if you work with an external company they’ll give you a content calendar with 30, 60 or 90 days of content activity and all you have to do is make sure that they do as they say they will.
   
   
2. You’re So Close You Might Miss the Obvious:  Sometimes, people are so passionate about their businesses that they suffer from tunnel vision and only focus on what is most near and dear to them.  In the meantime, all sorts of good and marketable stuff can be going on that you might not notice or might neglect to recognize the significance of.  By keeping in reasonably close contact with your social media and content marketing company they will pick up on things that should be spun into new content and broadcast across the social media spectrum.
   
   
3. Don't Overwork Yourself:  One of the first things an outside company will establish is your content marketing and social media strategy and activity calendar.  This will contain a schedule for when you can expect premium content pieces, blog posts, Facebook posts and tweets.  But what happens if something unexpected happens in your company that should be shouted from the rooftops?  If you’re managing your own content in-house you have to find time to incorporate this on top of everything else that you’re working on.  If we’re doing it we can reorganize our resources and priorities to fit you in.
   
   
4. Benefit From A Fresh Perspective:  We spend a considerable amount of my day talking about, thinking about and doing social media and content marketing.  On any given day we can touch any number of people who have different ideas and perspectives and where appropriate we can bring apply these ideas and perspectives to work for you.  Your internal resource is so tied to one strategy (yours) and is going to see the same set of faces (your team) day in and day out that the chances of fresh ideas or new perspectives creeping into the picture is smaller.
   
   
5. This Writing Thing Isn't As Easy As It Looks:  Sure, we all learned how to write when we were young, but I learned to swing a hammer when I was little and as my wonderful wife can attest, being able to swing a hammer doesn't mean I know how to finish a basement.  You rock at what you do and that’s why your customers buy from you but unless you’re into social media and content marketing (and I’m puzzled by why you would hire us if you are) then we’re probably better.  When I want a computer I buy a Dell laptop running Windows 7 because those are the best tools available for my needs.  When we’re hungry we head out to the local Pita Pit and grab a pita.  You could probably do a decent job yourself, but who shoots for decent when great is just a phone call away?

Social media and content marketing is a low-cost-high-return way to market your business.  Like anything else, doing it poorly can do more damage than good and can be worse than doing nothing at all.  Involving an outside company to create a consistent stream of content and social media activity will help establish you as an expert in your field, engage your customers and keep them coming back for more, and boost your lead generation.  Fering Communications provides social media and content marketing services so if you are convinced that an outside company might be right for you give us a call, we’d love to talk to you.

Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.

Steve Hartley, Managing Partner

Fering Communications Inc.

Website: www.feringcommunications.com

Email: steve.hartley@feringcommunications.com

Don't End Up Like Killface: 5 Grammatical Errors to Avoid

In the series premiere of Frisky Dingo, Killface wanted to use a direct mailing campaign featuring the following postcard to publicize his plans to annihilate mankind.

Unfortunately, several episodes later he was mocked on national TV because of the grammatical errors on his postcard.  This probably wasn’t the publicity he was looking for.  Luckily, you’ve found Fering Communications to make sure you don’t make similar types of errors that will make you look less than professional.  Here are five common grammatical errors explained so you can avoid the “DOOM!” making them will surely bring.

1. Your vs. You’re – “You’re” is a contraction of “you are” and is used to describe the person you’re talking to, as in:  You’re so wonderful because you’re reading our blog!  A quick way to check if you're using “you’re” correctly is to replace it with “you are” and your sentence should still read correctly.  “Your” is a possessive adjective and is used to describe something that is yours, as in: Your postcard mailer has grammatical errors, Killface.  If you want to get tricky:  You’re probably reading this blog on your computer.  If your not sure what’s wrong with this sentence you should call you’re friends for help.
2. They’re, Their and There – “They’re” is a contraction of “they are”, so you should be able to replace “they’re” with “they are” and your sentence should still make sense.  Remember those kids who jaywalked in front of you today?  They’re going to get themselves hurt!  “Their” is a possessive adjective and is used to refer to something that belongs to them, so you might have thought about telling their parents.  “There” refers to a location (real or abstract), like over here or over there.  “There” is also used with the verb “be” (is, am, are, was, were), as in:  There was a crosswalk a little further down they could have used!
3. Its & It’s – Starting with the easier of the two, “it’s” is a contraction of “it is” or less commonly “it has” or “it was”.  As above, replace “it’s” with its longer forms and see if the sentence makes sense still and if it does you’re (as in “you are”) in good shape.  It’s (as in “It is”) really quite easy!  “Its” is a possessive noun and describes something that belongs to “it”, where “it” is a previously defined object.  Remember that funny video you saw where the dog chased its tail around and around?  The dog is the previously defined object and the tail belonged to the dog.
4. Dangling Participles – No, this has nothing to do with the punch line of a raunchy joke, it’s what happens when you order your sentence in a confusing way.  Try this one actually taken from a newspaper article:  The burglar was about 30 years old, white, 5’10”, with wavy hair weighing about 150 pounds.  That’s some heavy hair!  Maybe they were trying to describe a burglar who was about 30 years old, white, stood 5’10” tall, weighed about 150 pounds and had wavy hair.  Cancel the APB on the white male with incredibly heavy hair.
5. Me and I – If you’re describing what you and someone else will be doing, when do you use “me” and when do you use “I”?  Take the other person out of the sentence and see if it still makes sense.  For example, “Bob or me will call you next week” is wrong because if you take Bob out of the sentence you’re left with “me will call you next week”.  This might have been acceptable tens of thousands of years ago but isn't not today.  Alternately, “Freddy told me and Jim that he’d send the order across tomorrow” still reads properly if you take Jim out of the sentence.

The English language is a cruel and unforgiving language full of weird rules and nuances.  Making grammatical errors in a business environment can confuse your audience, dilute your message and make you and your company look sloppy.  Being able to write and communicate effectively are so important that taking a little time to re-read what you’ve written to ensure that you’re clearly and concisely communicating your message is a worthwhile exercise.  If you find that you’re having difficulty crafting or refining your message then give us a call, we’d be glad to help.

Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.

Steve Hartley, Managing Partner
Fering Communications Inc.
Website:www.feringcommunications.com
Email: steve.hartley@feringcommunications.com

P.S.  For something a little more risqué, check out this link.