3 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Start Writing
If you’re a business owner who is constantly creating content for your audience, this scenario probably sounds pretty familiar for you:
You sit down at your desk to write an email, blog post, or social media caption…
The words start flowing so you keep writing… and writing… and writing.
Suddenly, you read what you’ve written and you realize that the content has gone in a completely different direction than what you intended!
DANG IT! Now you have to start over from scratch to make sure you get the point across that you really want your audience to hear.
If this has ever happened to you, just know you’re not alone – I’ve been a copywriter for almost two decades and I STILL struggle with this.
And no, nothing is wrong with your creative brain! In fact, this scenario is totally normal and way more common than you might think.
This typically happens when you’re super excited or passionate about an idea, start writing, and then it takes some time to figure out what you ACTUALLY want to say.
While this is totally normal, it’s not necessarily something that you want to keep doing – especially if you want to be efficient with your content creation.
There is a way that you can STOP this writing spiral and make sure your content is clear, concise, and impactful every single time.
It all starts with asking yourself 3 simple questions BEFORE you start writing anything.
3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Start Writing Content
If you notice that this spiral of ideas and thoughts is happening more often than you’d like when you’re creating content, I can almost bet that it’s because you’re not giving your content much thought beforehand.
Instead of intentionally thinking about what you want to create, you’re sitting down in front of your computer and trying to force your brain to figure it out as you go.
While there’s definitely a time and place to let your brain run freely, content creation isn’t one of them – especially when you’re working on content that you want to publish for your audience to consume.
This is why asking yourself the following 3 questions BEFORE you start writing or creating is so key:
- What is the goal of this content?
You likely already know that all of your content needs a call-to-action. Sometimes that action is small, such as liking your Instagram post, and sometimes it’s larger, like registering for your webinar, downloading your freebie, or purchasing your course.
Either way, there is an ACTION that you want people to take, regardless of the type of content you’re creating, and you always want to write with this action in mind.
When you clearly define the action that you want people to take before you start writing, you can check your work as you go to ensure that your content aligns with the ultimate goal of the content.
- What is the one main takeaway that I want people to leave with?
One of the biggest problems with letting your mind wander while you’re creating content is that you’ll typically start to include LOTS of takeaways in one single post or email.
Again, this is normal – you’re smart, you have lots of ideas, and you simply want to educate your audience. But you HAVE to refrain from sharing everything in one sitting.
If you do this, it can start to feel like a firehose of information and your audience will likely become very overwhelmed. When they feel this way, they’ll likely take no action at all because they aren’t quite sure what to focus on.
This is why you want to identify ONE takeaway in every single piece of your content.
When you do this, you’re able to stay streamlined with your content, provide your reader with a very clear lesson, and lead them to the desired action that you want them to take.
- What is the feeling that I want to evoke through this content?
Lastly, you want to intentionally think about the FEELING that you want to evoke through your content. The reason this matters so much is because humans are naturally emotional creatures and we make decisions based on emotion.
The emotion that someone feels while consuming your content is the thing that will move them into action, which is why you want to be very deliberate about the feeling you create.
Always remember: the logic doesn’t matter as much until the emotion is there.
Common feelings to evoke through your content can include: motivation, excitement, disappointment, nostalgic, happy, regretful, fearful, etc.
The feeling should be appropriately aligned with your content and what you want to convey and should be chosen thoughtfully!
Additional Copywriting Resources
This writing tip is just one of the many copywriting tools that I’m constantly teaching to my clients, students, and now YOU!
If you’re in need of more copywriting tips like this, you’re in the right place and the following resources were created with you in mind:
- Blog Post: 3 Email Copy Tricks For When You’re Out of Ideas
- Free Resource: 30+ Proven Subject Line Shortcuts
- 14-Day Mini Course: Inbox Love: How to Write Irresistible Emails Your Clients Love to Open, Read, and Buy
And if you want daily tips, tricks, and strategies make sure you follow along on Instagram or connect with me on LinkedIn!