Everyone knows about writer’s block, when no matter what you do, you can’t get a word on the page. The most famous example is probably in Stephen King’s novel The Shining, which is interesting given that King doesn’t seem to have a problem with writer’s block himself!

The idea of writer’s block might not come up as much for noncreative kinds of writing like technical writing, copywriting, and marketing writing. Perhaps because there’s a kind of irony when you set out to complete a creative project, which carries the idea of pleasure, only to struggle to access that pleasure. Perhaps it’s because professional writing doesn’t usually require the writer to come up with all content from scratch; they’re usually working with specific input from a whole team of people, and everything they write needs to serve a set purpose. 

But really, people rarely write website landing page copy for fun; they do it for their job. That means putting it back in the drawer until you feel inspired isn’t an option, at least as long as you want to keep paying your bills. So writer’s block for copywriting might not look like Jack Nicholson writing hundreds and hundreds of pages filled with the phrase “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” but it might look like lackluster copy, dissatisfaction with your work, or, in dire cases, clients who stop hiring you back. 

All kinds of writing is generative, so all kinds of writers can struggle to generate. Copywriters, however, need different kinds of tools to break the block. 

Articulate the Problem

When you’re having problems getting words on the page in a professional scenario, your first port of call is the people around you. Since you’re the writer on the team, though, they might struggle to understand what exactly the problem is. So you need to be very sure about what exactly you need. 

Do your coworkers or clients know specifically what they need out of your work? Do you have specific benchmarks to meet? Do they have examples of other kinds of brand writing they like and want to emulate? 

Writing is a very specialized skill, but many nonwriters don’t recognize it as such. If you can’t get words on the page for your assignment, then use your skills to write an email asking for the information you need. Or maybe—and do this only for short-form writing—come up with a few quick examples for your team so they can get an idea of how they actually want the finished work to look. 

Be Honest

Working as a team is a double-edged sword; you have input from others so you don’t have to create anything completely from scratch, but you also might not like what you’ve been asked to make. 

There’s no accounting for taste. No one knows bad writing like another writer, but writers aren’t always the lead on the team. Just like everyone else in the workplace, you have to suck it up, even if you know your boss is asking for a bad product. 

Take your ego out of the equation. Most copywriting work doesn’t come with a byline, and no one looking to hire you in the future is going to judge you for what they know is part of a bigger marketing plan for a company you’ve worked for previously. Because sometimes it’s not your job to write the best work in the world—it’s to write what you’re being asked to write. In most cases, you should be able to produce a high standard of work, even if you don’t like the approach. And if you’re truly being micromanaged to the extent that the standard of writing is being made subpar, well, you might be better served looking for a new workplace anyway. 

Adjust Your Workflow

Especially with the normalized use of generative AI, flesh and blood writers are feeling the pressure to perform. Everyone is working hard, many workplaces are relatively short-staffed, and people with good jobs want to make sure they’re meeting all their deadlines and making themselves indispensable. If you’re a freelancer? The more you work, the more money you make, and the more money you make, the safer you probably feel. 

Overloading yourself with work can have the effect of making it hard to work at all. All work and no play does, in fact, make Jack a dull boy. 

In all seriousness, an overloaded work schedule making your brain lock up is a big red flag, not just professionally, but personally. If this is your problem, then your solution isn’t to read more books or play around with random prompts. 

It’s not always an option to up and quit your job, or multiple jobs, as the case may be. So instead, connect with friends, maybe in a professional writers group online, and share your feelings. You might get some helpful advice for making your situation better or, at the very least, community camaraderie will help remind you that you're not alone. 

You Aren’t a Chatbot

A lot has been said about the writing that comes out of chatbots, but however it reads and wherever it comes from, text can and does come out at the push of a button nowadays. 

You, however, are not a chatbot. You can’t read minds about what someone wants and you certainly can’t mindlessly produce forever. When your typing fingers are getting stopped up at work, whatever you do, don’t be too hard on yourself. There are solutions to your problems, and you will meet your word count again! 

Chelsea Ennen is a writer living in Brooklyn with her husband and her dog. When not writing or reading, she is a fiber and textile artist who sews, knits, crochets, weaves, and spins.