GTFO of Here, Writer’s Block.
Welcome back to the Firecracker Marketing blog! This month, our East Coast Account Coordinator, Anna Andrew, tackles the ultimate buzzkill for content creators: writer’s block. You know the feeling… and it sucks. Read along to get Anna’s helpful tips in 3, 2, 1…
I’m going to cut to the chase and make this short(ish).
At Firecracker we love what we do and we’re proud to consider ourselves pretty good at it (humble brag, whatever). But the social media industry can be equal parts inspiring and taxing, and we’re constantly looking for fresh ways to keep the creativity flowing when we start to feel that sweet, sweet inspiration slipping through our fingers. Social Media Managers are the copywriters of the internet age and unfortunately, from time to time, that comes with a very real sense of writer's block, mental exhaustion, and overall content-burnout™️. The high we ride when laying out a perfectly balanced aesthetic feed is quickly met with an equal low of needing to come up with the perfect caption to accompany each pretty tile. And when it’s your 8th calendar of the week, woof, send thots & prayers.
Now, as I said before, we whole-heartedly love what we do. But with any creative position where writing is a big part of your day-to-day tasks, a natural burnout is to be expected and can quickly diminish all the excitement and well-deserved joy you felt that week. So, we’re here to let you know this burnout and creative exhaustion is OKAY.
Wild, we know, but we’re always going to keep it real with you guys. We’re human and, at the end of the day, we’ll be the first to admit when we’re experiencing a dreaded case of ~writer’s block~. We’re also here to let you know that there are only so many times we can reference “Gorgeous, Gorgeous Girls” and “Little Miss” when working on your weekly content calendars.
On that note, let’s talk about HOW TO STAY INSPIRED WHEN YOU JUST LITERALLY CAN NOT:
1. MOVE. Self-explanatory for some, a wild concept for others. Sitting at a desk for 8 hours is fine, but a lack of movement means a lack of natural endorphins which are vital when it comes to keeping energy levels up and contribute to a strong sense of focus*.
*Literally not a doctor and referencing no credible sources, but just trust me. I like to move it, move it. I love to MOVE IT!
2. SEARCH. We so easily get stuck in our content-planning routines and forget that there’s an entire universe out there of creative writing. Feeling stuck on a client account and having trouble coming up with a caption, theme, or reel direction? Simple answer: search Instagram for like-minded accounts and businesses and take a scroll through their feed. Now, we in no way condone caption stealing and straight-up plagiarism (BAD), but reading someone else’s copywriting is a sure-fire way to get your creative juices flowing**
**As much as we dislike the phrase “get your creative juices flowing”, we can’t help but use it in this situation.
3. COLLABORATE. If you’re lucky like us, you’re surrounded by a team of strong, inspirational women who are always down to jump on a call and talk through a concept that you just can’t seem to push to the finish line. Utilize them. Embrace each one. Establish a collaborative channel within your team (shout out to our “inspo-and-ideas” slack channel) that allows everyone to share their own personal inspiration whether it’s photos, captions, activations, or how to best respond to a snarky DM. We’ve all been there, and we could literally all use the help.
4. PLAN. Managing your time is an essential part of a big-girl job, but it also means planning further in advance than you ever thought possible (*shocking*). There’s no way to predict when inspiration will slip away, but there is a way to predict your future workloads. If you know you have reports coming up next week and 3 content calendars to complete, make sure you’re doing yourself the FAVOR and get a head start on laying out those feeds.
5. LIST. This one is personal for Anna (me, sorry for talking in the third person), but it’s something I’m learning to incorporate into my daily routine. Keep a running list in a Word document or on a scratch piece of paper on your desk, or whatever floats your organizational boat. This list is where you write down witty thoughts, quirky phrases, or that funny post you stumbled across that perfectly describes a piece of chicken. Think of this as a working template that you can always pull up and reference whenever you’re writing a content calendar.
6. STEP AWAY. Honestly, at the end of the day if you have tried all the things, taken all the walks and you’ve exhausted your options without feeling that SWEET, SWEET inspiration re-enter your life, call it a day. Walk away, focus on life outside of work and revisit in the morning. A fresh pair of eyes is sometimes all you truly needed***.
*** Obviously keeping deadlines in mind, no one likes a late bitch. And yes, after all this time, me telling you a short step away from work is probably the answer.
We hope that all of this advice proves helpful to you and that you can officially tell that writer’s block goodbye. If not, well, sorry. We’re not miracle workers.
Until next time,
Anna Andrew, AC at Firecracker Marketing
