Authenticity, content batching, and the dreaded writer's block
They say don’t believe everything you think. What about everything you post? 🖥️
I’ll be honest: writing, this past week, has been hard. I hit some kind of writer’s block that wouldn’t let me put my thoughts into sentences that don’t read like a bored 10-year-old was sent to their room to do homework. And, in my search for a way to defeat every writer's worst enemy, I found myself dreaming of taking a week off (read: off everything) to just… batch content! In fact, as the days went by, I kept thinking that I must batch so much content, ideally by next Friday, that I never have to think of what to post again!
For those of you who don’t know what that is, content batching is a productivity technique where you create all of your content during a set period of time. So rather than rushing to create new content the same day or when you’re strapped for time, you just create everything in one sitting. Well, not everything, but a whole set of something at once. This might seem like a lot of work, but it’s how you get to save a lot of time in the weeks or months to come. And while I’m all for content batching in general…
The way I see it, content marketing has its roots in authenticity. Authentic content marketing is content that tries to genuinely be of service to its audience without trying to manipulate them. And, if you are a content creator, it also means being as honest and transparent as you possibly can and not deceiving your readers. In my case, the problem with deciding on everything I have to say to you for the rest of the year by next Friday? It might become disingenuous by, say, June.
Content creation changed so much that it’s no surprise content batching has become the new black. Creators today are expected to create content round the clock. Started a new blog, Instagram profile, or YouTube channel? Then you must post, and post, and later today? Post again. But while I’m not going to go into the volume vs quality debate, I am going to tell you about the (little) time when I worked for a social media agency and my only job was to write captions. For content creators. Who needed help to keep up with, well, all the content they needed to create.
When I first started freelancing, one of my first gigs consisted of writing captions for about 30+ health & fitness creators and their personal brands. These were people who posted daily, multiple times a day even – fine, sometimes I do it too – and got people to trust them based on their looks (they were definitely there) and their long, witty, educational captions (they were also there, because I wrote them). Did I see anything wrong with that? Well, I’m going to go with no. No, until one day.
One of our clients going through a terrible tragedy (their partner had passed) contacted us to make sure we’d keep creating and scheduling content for them over the next months or so. They weren’t up for doing any of the regular calls or sending over any more visual content that we'd then pair up with the pre-written captions, but the profile had to keep going. Because, as a creator, you can't just stop creating. Your followers will leave, the algorithm will forget you, and whatever business you were setting up? It will die.
Now, let me circle back (I can’t believe I just used this phrase) to authenticity, because unfortunately I don't know what happened next. I left the agency soon after. A content factory wasn’t for me, as I suspect it isn’t for most people. But I understood that the issue with being required to create so much content in order to stay relevant is that all that content can’t possibly be authentic. There isn’t a single person out there so interesting that they can write an essay (or more) about themselves every single day.
And so, we learn to batch content, alone or with a little help from our friends (the ghostwriters). But what happens when we don’t, because life got in the way or because we don’t like this way of working? I don't have any future newsletters planned out. I don't want to write everything I’m going to tell you moving forward by next Friday. But what if I hit another writer’s block in March, or when I have X, Y and Z to do? I don't know, to be honest. Maybe I'll just tell the truth: that my mind is kind of blank, sorry. Or maybe…
Here’s what you and I could do instead of batching content for the rest of the year: create content pillars and come up with topic ideas for them. Don’t worry, there won’t be many. A business normally has somewhere between 3-5 content pillars. Any more than that and they’re losing focus, and so will their audience. Think about it: what do you stand for? What is it that you want to create? What do you enjoy lecturing people about ‘till they roll their eyes? Those right there are your content pillars!
For example, mine are copywriting (here I can talk about useful writing tips, tell you what I’ve learnt from other writers, or suggest books and videos), content marketing (that’s content writing, planning and strategy, and content distribution) and creativity. This one’s my favourite because it’s where I talk about where ideas come from and how to (have the courage to) grab them and make them your own. Oh, and share them with the world. Fun!
While I’m not going to write out everything I want to share with you in the future, I’ll take my own advice and work on my content pillars and topics. This way, I can be authentic and make sure that whatever I post today is what I truly believe – today, at least – but I also don’t run out of ideas. Because I might believe something else tomorrow, and I want to leave space for my ideas to grow and even change shape over time, just like I grow and change shape (for example, I am slightly more round than I was at the beginning of the pandemic.)
Nothing we see is the way we will see it forever (or even by June) and that's a good thing, even if writer’s block is the very opposite of that. But, look – this newsletter practically wrote itself, after all! Maybe writer’s block can also be overcome if you just try to be honest and, as the old adage goes, write what you know.
Anca x