not know. I just sit at the table and I can’t write.
– You are not even trying to think about it! You have no interest. That is why you have no inspiration.
– How do I get new interests?
– Invest your time! You have to pay attention to the work you do. If you start doing something very carefully in three minutes, you will be immersed in this process. For example, you switch the TV on, you start watching a program or a film from the middle and you do not understand what they are talking about or what is happening. Look! Watch the show attentively. After three minutes, you are immersed; you are interested in the plot, and you are completely involved. Or you are washing the dishes. First, it seems to be boring. You are lazy, and you have no desire, but if you begin to wash carefully, you will be involved. After a while, you are immersed and you continue to wash everything around you – Cinderella syndrome. It is very important to bring your interest to everything you do, but the only way to become interested is to invest your attention. Not only the time you spend on your work but also the attention you pay. You cannot love anything if you do not pay attention to it.
– I cannot start. I am lazy.
– You are not lazy. There is no laziness or inspiration. There is will. Will is a desire, and will is a change from one activity to another, just like rest: also a change from one activity to another. So, why not take a rest by writing? Unplug from the outside world. Find time for yourself, for thinking. Spend time alone, just with your thoughts.
– I need a special place.
– Certainly. But actually no, you do not. You need a special state of mind and a special pose: a correct way to sit. For example, I can write at an airport, in a subway, in an office – I don’t care. Nobody distracts me. All I really need is a flow, a special state, trance. I just remember it every time I want to write something. I open my notes, start to type, and I feel the inspiration. It is that simple.
– I do not know how to start.
– Start with that. “I don’t know how to start, but I need to write a text. I want to write a text. And this text will be about how to start writing texts.” Do you get the idea? This is called freewriting. At first, try to write everything that comes into your mind, even all sorts of nonsense. Over time, you will get tired of writing that stuff, and you will begin to write something important.
– My thoughts move faster than I can write.
– I see. I am writing this book like that: I describe the dialogue with you, but sometimes, new ideas come to me. That’s okay. I just make some notes, a couple of words in the margins, and I write the dialogue again.
– What if the article is quite long? I can not write it all at once.
– You can write it till your thoughts run out. If you feel it is enough for today or you are tired, you can stop. I wrote my novels this way. It is a whole story, but every chapter is separate. Every film script consists of about forty scenes. More or less, every scene is a finished story, so at first, a screenwriter works on a synopsis and describes the whole plot, and after that, he writes one scene at a time. A landing page is made the same way. It consists of about eleven blocks, and it is possible to work on every block separately. I finish one block, and I continue onto the new one later. It is important to bring your work to a logical end before you can take a break.
– Should I think about the idea in advance?
– I recommend that you do not do that. If you think about the idea in advance, it will be boring to describe it, because you already know it. It seems like you have already told the story to your best friend, and telling it again to someone else would be tiring. You have already expressed your feelings, used your jokes, mimics and intonations. It is boring to repeat it. If you have already found the answers before you write, you can not invent something new. Writing is thinking. It is living; it is not a rehearsal. You can realize the theses, the structure, the plan, but never think about the text before writing. Do not pronounce the text out aloud and do not use the recorder, because you will forget this text, and it will be a pity that you can not say it better. So, it is better to open your notes and start writing the whole text from the beginning.
– What if I have a lot of ideas, separate notes, and thoughts? How can I link them together?
– I would rather not link them. As I said, you should write until you run out of thoughts. It is very important. When you run out of ideas and the text comes to a logical conclusion, interest also ends. Your thoughts are running consistently and a structure is being made by itself, while you are writing. So, actually the structure is built intuitively. I have used the passive voice not in vain: it is created by itself. The brain thinks in holistic stories, and the thought process moves along this structure; it cannot get off these rails. This does not mean you do not have to pay attention to the structure and the logic. But if you try to build the structure in a more unnatural way, from the different pieces, you feel terrible, because the puzzle does not fit together. Of course not – the pieces are from different sets.
– So, we do not compile the text from different pieces? We write the whole text or do freewriting the first time. What about editing, then?
– I do not read the text while I am writing it. There is a time to write. There is a time to read. Each process takes its own time. When you are writing, do not stop while you have the interest, an idea and something to say. But if you revise every single paragraph you have just written, your courage will be lost, and it will be difficult to write further. Why? Because you will certainly criticize yourself, correct some parts, and change some words – and your text will no longer be smooth. The editing is important, but it is another type of work, and it needs to be done at a different time. It probably won’t even be you who does the editing.
– But what if I edit or rewrite someone else’s text?
– We do not edit someone else’s text. We read the whole text and other materials. We choose the facts and information. If there is a lack of information, we ask a client (a person who we write for). We write a new text, based on this information and facts. We do not amend texts. It is another profession. I do sometimes, because I already have the skill, but you are at the beginning of copywriting, so you have to study how to write from the very beginning; from an empty, white sheet with the same dynamics, style, rhythm and structure.
Right state and comfortable position
Usually, every coaching session starts with the words: “Hello, nice to see you, and now sit comfortably, please”. Most people change their position, despite the fact that they have already sat on their chairs.
– Why were you sitting uncomfortably before I asked? You didn’t even notice it. Why didn’t you sit comfortably in the first place?
Why do you not write easily from the very beginning? It is important to remember: if it is hard it means you are doing something wrong. It should not be hard. Imagine: you want to shake out the bag of a vacuum cleaner and you are trying to pull the container out. Is it hard? Perhaps you are pushing something the wrong way. You will break the plastic if you do not understand the design.
What could be wrong when you are writing? Three things:
– lack of interest and waiting for inspiration;
– state and
