The “Blitzkrieg Method” for beating writer’s block

Happy Wednesday! Writer’s block is a luxury your business can’t afford.

But if you find yourself staring at a blank page or struggling to write, the good news is there’s a systematic way to beat it every time.

It’s called the “Blitzkrieg Method.”

Today, I’m going to break it down into 4 simple steps so you never have to deal with writer’s block again.

Let’s dive in.

Read time: 2 minutes and 6 seconds

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STEP 1: Gather raw materials

The writing process begins with gathering raw materials.

In fact, the reason most people suffer from writer’s block in the first/ place is because they haven’t gathered enough raw material yet.

So the first step is to look for inspiration.

One of the best books ever written on creativity is called A Technique for Producing Ideas, and inside, the author James Webb breaks down the gathering process into two steps:

• Specific information (inside your niche)

• General information (outside your niche)

Study what’s working well in the medium you’re writing for, whether it’s an ad, email, sales page, or Twitter thread.

But let your curiosity pull you in other directions too.

Reading books, listening to podcasts, and watching documentaries on unrelated topics helps fertilize your mind with new ideas.

STEP 2: Create an outline

The blank page is the enemy.

Before you sit down to write, build out as much of the wireframe as possible:

• The topic or angle

• The headline

• 3-5 key points you want to make

• Proof points to include

• The call to action

Dickie Bush calls this “warming up” his writing:

If possible, I like to put at least one night’s sleep in between the first two steps.

STEP 3: Write the easiest part first

Once your outline is done and you’re ready to start writing, the goal is to create massive momentum as fast as possible.

• If you’re writing a Facebook ad, start with the link description

• If you’re writing an email, start with the call to action

• If you’re writing a sales page, start with the money-back guarantee

Just like “debt snowballing,” where you pay down the smallest balance first and then work your way up (even though it’s counterintuitive)…

Writing the smallest, easiest, most boilerplate section of copy first gets the ball rolling in the right direction.

There’s no rule that says copy must be written linearly from lead to close.

STEP 4: If you get stuck, go around

As you flesh out the copy, you’ll run into resistance somewhere.

When that happens, don’t waste time staring at the blinking cursor.

Go around the obstacle.

This was one of the keys to Hitler’s military success in World War 2. When his fast-moving tanks encountered resistance, they didn’t try to force their way through. They just went around, leaving the Allies no time to react.

Apply the same principle to your writing.

If you get stuck, go around.

Then come back to it later once you’ve finished writing everything else.

The more puzzle pieces you fill in, the easier it becomes to write.

Putting it All Together

The more time you spend stuck somewhere, the harder it gets to write.

That’s what makes this “Blitzkrieg Method” so powerful.

You lay the groundwork as best you can, then work your way through the copy in a non-linear fashion, filling in as many puzzle pieces as possible before circling back to the trickier parts.

This is how you beat writer’s block.

That’s it.

Thanks for reading!

See you next week.

Jim Hamilton