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How to Get Past Writer’s Block and Other Creative Ruts

Proven strategies to help unblock any creative process–whether it’s writing, rapping, or software entrepreneurship.

Creative projects can be some of the most rewarding and frustrating things.

Whether you’re trying to build a software company or make a rap song with a music video, a lot of creativity is required.

Oddly enough, the more creative the project, the messier it tends to get. Sometimes it’s hard to even get started. Other times, it’s easy to start but feels impossible to finish.

In the past decade, I’ve written thousands of articles and sales email templates. I founded a profitable copywriting company that trained and employed dozens of writers, who all struggled with writer’s block at various times. I also created lucrative educational courses and built software for enterprise technology companies.

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And, in the past year, I even wrote and recorded over a dozen rap songs. I also directed and self-produced music videos for some of these songs.

Through all these endeavors, I’ve learned a lot about creative processes–both for solo projects and highly collaborative ones. I know what separates the productive and successful ones from those that get stuck and go nowhere.

Here are some tips to help you overcome creative bottlenecks, whatever you’re working on.

Break it into smaller pieces

Creative projects are often large and complex, and that can be daunting. An easy way to fix this is taking a moment to think about all the required steps in your project, and then breaking it into bite-size chunks. This makes everything less intimidating, and can also help you avoid analysis paralysis and procrastination.

Set a timer and make deadlines

Perfectionism is like