Writing on Demand: How to Save your Sanity

Whether you are a professional copywriter or someone who writes as a freelancer in their spare time, being forced to write on demand is never easy.

You have been given a brief, a word count and a deadline. What now? Knowing what to do next can be incredibly daunting. You are like a rabbit in the headlights – vulnerable and full of dread.

Quite honestly, I don’t blame you for feeling this way. Upon receiving a project brief, almost like an automatic reaction, my brain decides that it no longer has any imagination. Instead, it becomes a gormless mush of absolute dribble. Now that isn’t useful at all.

So, what exactly is the secret to writing content on demand? Unfortunately, after trying to discover the answer for many years, I have found that there isn’t one. Disappointed? Yeah, me too!

Do you remember your days at school and the endless amount of essays and assignments you had to write? Well, it’s not so different from that. Knowing where to start was often the hardest part and it still is.

• Don’t panic – This is quite possibly the worst thing you could do. Panicking will only ever make the situation worse – why put yourself through that? You have to remember that you are not alone in this, just think of all the students that have to do it on a daily basis.
• Don’t overthink – Never read the brief more than three times, as this can really hinder your progress. Reading it over and over again will only make you start to doubt yourself. That is the last thing you want to deal with.
• Doodle – As counterproductive as this may seem, you need to get your creative juices flowing. Doodling what appears to be a load of absolute nonsense will free your creativity and unleash your imagination. So as stupid as it may seem, it may just save your skin.

• Write everything down – I don’t know about you, but whenever I write on demand, my thoughts don’t always come to me in the order that they should. If it means that the first thing you write is the ending, then so be it. 
• Keep an open mind – Always write everything down before you forget it and never dismiss any of your ideas. You never know, the idea you think is stupid might just be the best idea you have ever had.
• Remember why you are doing it – This is really important, especially for those times when you feel like you are losing the will to live. Think about why you decided to do this in the first place. Was it for the money or because you love to write? Whatever the reason, you decided to do it regardless, so use this as your motivation and keep going.
• Any progress is better than none – Even I find this difficult to believe sometimes, but it’s true. Any progress is better than none! Whether you have written down one sentence in the space of an hour, you have still achieved something. Hold onto that thought and stay positive.

Writing isn’t always the easiest task, no matter the subject, but it can always be made that little less painful. The next time you are faced with having to write on demand, use these tips and you may just find that your life is a whole lot easier.