Don't put yourself under pressure when you write

Why you should avoid putting pressure on yourself when writing content....

Content creation should be something that you enjoy. Yet, the majority of people I speak with, hate it, believe they’re no good at it, want to outsource it, procrastinate, or force themselves to do it.

There is no reason why you should feel like this and why you should experience writer’s block every time you sit down to create content.

In this article, I’ll explore why it is important not to put yourself under pressure when you want to create content and what to do instead.

Why should you avoid pressure when creating content?

I believe that as a small business owner who is the engine that drives the creation of all the content that you share as a brand – content creation should be something that you look forward to rather than dread.

When you started your business, you chose to be an expert in a different area and underestimated that creating content is the only activity that can make your business visible, valued, and trusted – so that you can sell your services with confidence, authenticity, and ease.

Any kind of content that you share - whether it’s social media posting, vlogging, podcasting, blogging, public speaking, or giving interviews – contributes to your success.

If you’re not sharing your message – who is?

That can put an awful lot of pressure on you – and that is something you need to avoid if you want to create content consistently and joyfully.

The pressure that you put on yourself can get you stuck, hinder your creativity, or open Pandora’s Box of limiting (content creation) beliefs.

Whether someone else instilled these beliefs in you, or you created them yourself, believing that…

You can’t write and don’t have the skills to write well
Your content has to be perfect
Others write so much better
You can’t come up with any topics or have anything interesting to write about
You’re not a creative person
You need to stay focused on your writing task until it’s done…

… is the surest way to writer’s block and feeling bad about writing.

The pressure that you create through these negative emotions prevents you from writing with joy and writing with flow and authenticity.

But all’s not lost!

Let’s look into a few of these beliefs.

Myth #1 You can’t write and don’t have the skills to write well

There are many great writers who have never had any formal writing training but have written bestsellers.

There are many skills that you have learned and that you haven’t been “gifted” with.

Writing is neither a gift, nor is it a skill that’s too complicated to learn.

After all, you are an expert in a particular area and, over the years, you have mastered other skills that you need to run a successful business.

Writing is no different to any of the other skills that you have learned.

Just like any other skill, it needs practice and knowledge.

I believe that writing well is an essential skill for marketing your business online. Once you have mastered it, you can outsource it because then you can instruct others on how to write in your authentic voice.

If online marketing is important for your business, then writing well should be your list of skills to learn.

Writing is a craft, and like any craft, you can learn the tools and techniques to do it well.

Myth #2 Your content has to be perfect

Perfectionism is an excuse for procrastination.

Writing is never perfect. There’s always something that you can improve.

Your writing needs to be good enough to go. It needs to…

Provide value
Be interesting – i.e. entertain or educate
Be relevant
Be structured and coherent

Apart from that, your content needs to be good enough only for your ideal audience. It needs to be written in their language, using their terms and expressions and allow them to stay focused on your content from the first to the last letter.

Myth #3 Others write so much better

Says who?

Sure, I have complained about poor writing in some of my posts. Your writing has to meet (or slightly exceed) your audience’s requirements.

You have to be happy with your writing and ensure that your content meets your standards and allows you to achieve the goals that you want your content to achieve.

It doesn’t matter how well others write as long as your content hits your goals.

Define your goals and then improve your writing until you hit them.

Myth #4 You can’t come up with any topics or have anything interesting to write about

If you feel that you cannot come up with any topics that your audience wants and needs to hear, then circle back to your customer avatar.

In order to reach your marketing goals, your content needs to be talking about their feelings, pain points, fears, aspirations or desires.

Analyse them deeply enough and you can create enough topics to last you for years.

Once you understand your ideal client’s emotional world, you can dive deeper into every single emotion, experience, and struggle that they are going through.

And connected to these are so many stories, myths, knowledge gaps…

Myth #5 You are not a creative person

Everyone is creative.

You might have lost or suppressed your creative mode but by default, we are all creative. Your brain is not fundamentally different to any other human’s brain.

And that means that you have the ability to let your thoughts and attention wander. You can give your brain permission to wander and you can even deliberately get your mind to wander.

It is easier than you think!

Don’t fill your idle time with scrolling through your social media feeds. Allow yourself to do nothing. To be bored and your mind starts wandering by default.

If that’s too hard for you – then pursue an automatic or habitual activity. Dust your surfaces, drive without music or listening to a podcast, go for a walk without listening to anything, cook without the TV on in the background…

Sooner rather than later, your mind will start running through all sorts of thoughts and one of them will be an idea that you can pick up and explore.

Make sure to have a notebook close by because you will be amazed at what your mind will come up with if you give it the freedom to roam.

Myth #6: You need to stay focused on your writing task until it’s done

You don’t!

Not every day is a good day to write. But you can do certain things to ensure that it is very likely a good day to write.

How can you do that?

Here are a few tips:

Schedule a content creation day that allows you enough time not to feel pressured for time
Ensure to create a distraction-free environment
Have a writing process that works for you
Organise yourself – create a content calendar or a list of content prompts so that you can start writing without having to think about what to write
Don’t write and edit at the same time – just write until you’re done and edit later
Explore first – structure later: Allow yourself to write down everything that comes to your mind – it’s just a draft!

If you allow yourself to debunk your own myths, you’ll find that you take a lot of pressure off your mind.

Putting yourself under pressure will sabotage your content creation.

And before I finish – one last tip that I’d like to share…

Make sure that you know your core messages. Make sure that you know what you stand for, believe in, value, what you want to achieve, how you want to serve your clients etc.

Knowing your WHY will light up your content creation.

And should you need help with finding your core messages – then drop me a line and let us talk!

Categories: Content Creation, Contentwriting, Copywritingskills, Creative Flow, Productvity