I write every day.
Some days ideas flow from me like Niagara Falls.
Other days, ideas are as elusive as water in the Sahara Desert.
You can Google “How to overcome writer’s block” and a million techniques will appear.
I’ve tried many techniques.
Some work.
Some don’t.
Some days nothing seems to spark an idea.
Legendary copywriter, Eugene Schwartz, claims he never had writer's block.
Every day he would sit at his desk and set a kitchen timer to 33 minutes and 33 seconds.
For the next 33 minutes and 33 seconds, he could:
- Drink coffee
- Stare out the window or at the wall
- Sit there and do nothing for 33.33 minutes
- Write an ad
- He could not leave the chair for any reason
- He could not do anything else
That’s it.
Of course, he didn’t have the internet or social media as a distraction.
Following the same daily routine helped him write some of the most successful ads in history.
I came across another technique that’s working well for me.
It’s the same technique Einstein used to discover the Theory of Relativity.
Edison used this technique to come up with ideas for over 2300 patents.
Nikola Tesla used this technique to revolutionize the way we use electricity.
I learned this technique from an old Nightingale Conant program called Brain Boosters by Dr. Win Wenger (not an affiliate link.)
Ready to try this technique?
Grab a notebook and set a timer for 20 minutes.
“What’s in your awareness right now?”
Don’t think.
Write as fast as you can for 20 minutes.
Don’t think, write as fast as you can.
Twenty minutes is a long time to write as fast as you can, but stay with me.
Ideas will start flowing to you.
The longer you write, the more ideas will come to you.
If nothing comes to mind, write “I don’t know what I’m going to write next.”
Don’t stop writing.
Keep writing as fast as you can.
The key is to write fast and don’t think.
Most of the ideas will suck.
The longer you write, the more creative the ideas will be.
At the end of 20 minutes, read through your scribbles and pick out the best ideas.
You’ll be amazed at the ideas that come out of you.
You’ll wonder where they came from.
Give it a try and let me know how it worked for you.
Ted
