Isabella Jones

The prompt that solved my writer's block permanently

I'm a copywriter. Writer's block is a professional problem. Client waiting, deadline approaching, blank page. For years I had various rituals. Go for a walk. Make coffee. Stare at the brief again. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes I'd lose hours. One prompt fixed it. I use this almost every time I get stuck now: "I need to write [type of copy] for [brand/product]. The audience is [description]. The key message is [message]. I'm stuck and can't find the angle. Give me 10 completely different approaches to this brief — different tones, different hooks, different angles. Don't write the copy. Just give me the approaches." I read through 10 approaches and something always sparks. Even the bad ideas spark something. I take one direction and go. Takes about 5 minutes. The key is "don't write the copy." If I ask it to write the copy I get output that's fine but not mine. If I ask for approaches I get ideas I can take and make into something that sounds like me. Three years of copywriting. I wish I'd had this from day one.