How to Never Start Writing on a Blank Screen

A blinking cursor can become a thing of dread. It pulses away defiantly as your procrastination mounts and the blankness of the screen reflects back at you. Yep, writer’s block is a real thing and facing an empty document is no help.

That’s why I never open a blank screen when I write.

Instead, I’ve created templates for each of my ongoing clients or personal projects so that I can immediately start composing on a page filled with helpful ideas and reminders specific to that client. Ditto for crafting pitches.

I take this approach to not only trigger inspiration and fend off the blank-screen-of-doom syndrome, it also eliminates clicking around to other documents to review guidelines and project specs. Using templates is truly a time saver and productivity booster. Who doesn’t love that?

10 Things to Include on an Article Template

Here’s a quick checklist of the general information I include on my content marketing clients’ templates. Sometimes there’s less, other times more. Each client is unique. The purpose here is to pad a reusable document with what you need to remember in the moment about the project and client so you can compose content that speaks to their needs and audience.

• Client: When you’re juggling…