Mind block—the ultimate enemy of a writer when creating blog topics for new content. No matter how much you curse and swear at the computer screen, those tiny words just won’t flow out. I had this just recently. I was creating topic titles for upcoming blog posts and, for once in my life, my mind went blank, like a piece of paper with invisible ink on it. 

So how did I overcome this? Like a superwoman, I decided to do the only thing that I could think of: 

Write this blog. 

So without further torturing you with a lot of unnecessary intro content, here’s my simple step-by-step guide on overcoming a mind block when you’re trying to create catchy titles for your blogs.

How To Overcome Your Blog Topic Mind Block

STEP 1: Write Crappy Headlines 

Yes, you read that right—crappy headlines. In order to be good, you have to start with being bad—without being bad, how can you improve? 

So, start by working out the niche you’re trying to write your blogs in. For this example I’ll be using digital marketing. 

Once your niche it set, work on writing just random crappy, everyday boring topics, like the following below: 

• SEO Tips For Beginners 
• Content Marketing Tips For Businesses 
• Advantages Of Link Building

  

Boring, right? But don’t get discouraged. This is a good starting point.

Now let’s move on to…

STEP 2: Understand Power Words 

Power words—ever heard of them? If not, you’re not alone. Power words are, overall, general words that give power or life to written content. They’re designed to evoke excitement, danger, curiosity, and other emotions in the reader. 

Power words come in different categories depending on the emotional reaction you’re trying to gain from the reader. These categories include:

• Greed – For triggering the desire for more money or those who want to save money. 
• Curiosity – For triggering the desire to look closer into something.
• Unmotivated – For triggering motivation for those who are unmotivated. 
• Lust – For triggering the overall sensation for desire.
• Vanity – For triggering self-imagery of oneself.
• Trust – For triggering trust in someone. 
• Anger – For triggering the feeling of anger in people. 
• Fear – For triggering the essence of fear. 

Some power words you might find useful to add to your titles include the following (beware, though, it’s an extensive list):

FEAR 

Beware	Beating	Backlash	Assault
Apocalypse	Armageddon	Annihilate	Agony
Cataclysmic	Cadaver	Bumbling	Buffoon
Bomb	Bloody	Blinded	Bloodbath
Blood	Bloodcurdling	Dangerous	Crisis
Danger	Caution	Collapse	Catastrophe
Corpse	Crazy	Cripple	Fail
Feeble	Epidemic	Embarrass	Dumb
Disastrous	Drowning	Destroy	Devastating
Death	Deadly	Holocaust	Hoax
Hazardous	Hack	Gullible	Gambling
Frantic	Fooled	Frightening	Fire
Mired	Meltdown	Lurking	Horrific
Insidious	Hurricane	IRS	Invasion
Jeopardy	Jail	Lawsuit	Looming
Lunatic	Poor	Plummet	Poison
Piranha	Peril	Scream	Refugee
Murder	Mistake	Painful	Poison
Nightmare	Pale	Reckoning	Prison
Panic	Played	Savage	Risky
Revenge	Pitfall	Plague	Pus
Slaughter	Smash	Suck	Searing
Tailspin	Terrorist	Shatter	Suffering
Silly	Strangle	Wounded	Slave
Stupid	Shellacking	Scary	Teetering
Terror	Targeted	Tank	Warning
Torture	Toxic	Wreaking havoc	Worry
Vulnerable	Tragedy	Trap	Victim
Vaporize	Trauma	Volatile	Traumatising

 

ANGER 

Greedy	Ruthless	Sick and tired	Hostile
Arrogant	Agitate	Hate	Snooty
Loathsome	Backstabbing	Know-it-all	Money-grubbing
Annoy	Abuse	Lies	Underhanded
Foul	Force-fed	Corrupt	Stink
Screw	Morally bankrupt	Crooked	Revolting
Rant	Raise hell	Beat down	Ass kicking
Coward	Disgusting	Diminish	Crush
Worst	Weak	Wounded	Diatribe
Bullshit	Maul	Lying	Miff
Lose	Sneaky	Smug	B.S.
Buffoon	Brutal	Fear	Payback
Obnoxious	Pound	Thug	Vicious
Boil over	Punish	Snotty	Stuck up
Broke	Sniveling	No Good	Nazi
Snob	Pitiful	Exploit	Evil
Bully / Victim	Provoke	Waste	Violent

 

TRUST

No questions asked	Lifetime	Improved	Fully refundable
No strings attached	No risk	No obligation	Money Back
Professional	Privacy	Pay zero	Ensured
Protected	Official	Ironclad	Guaranteed
Genuine	Expert	Recession-proof	Recognized
Scientifically-proven	Studies show	Refund	Proven
Research	Tested	Well-respected	Reliable
Safety	Results	Secure	Worldwide
Verify	Track	Try before you buy	Unconditional
Record	Anonymous	Case study	Certified
Dependable	Endorsed	Don’t worry	Best
Accredited	Authentic	Authoritative	Best selling
Cancel anytime	According to	Approved	Reliability
Backed	Because	Authority	Bona fide

 

VANITY 

Magic	Amazing	Lucky	Ahead of the game
Strong	Stunning	At the top	Money-making
Attractive	Staggering	Mind-blowing	Amplify
Gorgeous	Good-looking	Guts	Successful
Handsome	Victory	Wealthy	Cheer
Valor	Crowned	Vanquish	Clever
Conquer	Brazen	Brassy	Boost
Boss	Bravery	Courage	Booming
Spectacular	Spine	Noteworthy	Notable
Sassy	Sensational	Prosperous	Smart
Daring	Quick-witted	Remarkable	Saucy
Super-human	Ultimate	Optimal	Unbeaten
Turbo charge	Triumph	Undefeated	Jaw-dropping
Jubilant	Legendary	Kick ass	Hero
Fearless	Wondrous	You	Knockout
Foxy	Epic	Elite	Wonderful
Fortunate	Enchant	Genius	Elegant
Bold / Effective	Brilliant	Bright	Drop-dead
Awe-inspiring	Beautiful	Defiance	Dazzling

 

LUST 

Lascivious	Magnetic	Shameless	Lonely
Depraved	Compelling	Spank	Sweaty
Naughty	Tantalizing	Charismatic	Passionate
Mind-blowing	Sex	Wild	Sinful
Captivating	Sleeping	Whip	Provocative
Brazen	Mischievous	Tease	Uncensored
Fascinating	Lick	Pleasurable	Lust
Alluring	Lovely	Steamy	Sleazy
Riveting	Crave	Scandalous	Tawdry
Engaging	Mouthwatering	Promiscuous	Wanton
Exotic	Dirty	Stimulating	Enchanting
Exposed	Obsession	Urge	Striking
Desire	Thrilling	Sensual	Hypnotic
Forbidden	Intriguing	Naked	Flirt

 

UNMOTIVATED 

Building blocks	In record time	Printable	How-to
Basic	In less than	Piece of cake	Plain
On demand	Accessible	Manifest	Ready
Cheat sheet	Freebie	Ingredients	Simple
All-inclusive	Gift	Painless	Picnic
Components	Manageable	Pattern	Factors
Comprehensive	No-nonsense	Simple as ABC	Quick
Efficient	No sweat	Tools	Uncomplicated
Mere	Index	Replicate	No problem
Child’s play	Itemized	Roadmap	Guide
Kickstart	Elements	Straightforward	Template
Downloadable	Elementary	Steal	Nothing to it
Cinch	Formula	Smooth-sailing	Instant
Effortless	Foolproof	Mold	Smooth
Clear	Copy	Light	Snap
Model	Swipe	List	Report
Now	Complete	Steps	Minutes
Easy	Fill in the blanks	Economical	Free

 

CURIOSITY 

Undiscovered	On the QT	Be the first	Uncharted
Become an insider	Banned	Off-limits	Trade secret
Behind-the-scenes	Under wraps	Unauthorized	Unbelievable
Unconventional	Odd	Astonishing	Off-the-record
Priceless	Under the table	Outlawed	Backdoor
Cringeworthy	Private	Dark	Top-secret
Crazy	Elusive	Underground	Extraordinary
Eye-opening	Limited	Interesting	Super secret
Unexplained	Confessions	Little-known	Strange
Unheard of	Controversial	Members only	Unsung
Key	Invitation only	Stunning	Thought-provoking
Black market	Classified	Login required	Shocking
Hilarious	Illusive	Smuggled	Sneak peek
Myths	Wacky	Bizarre	Withheld
Insider	Forbidden	Hush-hush	Unexplored
Psycho	Remote	Class full	Spoiler
Bootleg	Censored	Untold	Zany
Restricted	Unlock	Secrets	Shh!
Privy	Blacklisted	Ridiculous	Unusual
Unique	Lost	Secret	Illegal
Closet	Incredibly	Confidential	Cover-up
Hidden	Forgotten	Concealed	Covert

 

GREED

Whopping	Sale ends soon	Reduced	Don’t miss out
While they last	Soaring	Save / Savings	Price Break
Value	Special	Running Out	Prize
Skyrocket	Surge	Rich	Profit
Upsell	Treasure	Quick	Quadruple
Ultimate	Triple	Bargain	Before
Reduced	Six-figure	Frenzy	Frugal
Greatest	Gift	Giveaway	Guilt-free
Hurry	Best	Big	Inexpensive
Cash	Bonus	Bonanza	Billon
Cheap	Instantly	Jackpot	Deadline
Premiere	New	Now	Pay zero
Discount	Never again	Last chance	Limited
Monetize	Massive	Marked Down	Luxurious
Nest egg	More Money	Fortune	First
Final	Feast	Fast	Extra explode
Expires	Exclusive	Economical	Dollar

 

 

 

Wow, that was a long list! 

STEP 3: Utilise Power Words 

So now you’ve had your eyes overwhelmed by the exhaustive list of power words—I know, there was a lot there—and now it’s time to put it into action. So, take the crappy titles you’ve had before: 

• SEO Tips For Beginners 
• Content Marketing Tips For Businesses 
• Advantages Of Link Building 

Now think of the emotion you want to trigger from your title. What is it? For this article we’re going to try a few types of power words to generate interesting and creative topics. Let’s take a look below at the topics with different power words added. 

Title: SEO Tips For Beginners 

Power Word Type	Words Used	New Title
Greed	Inexpensive, Skyrocket	Inexpensive SEO Tips For Beginners That Skyrocket Your Startup
Curiosity	Bizarre, Eye-opening	Bizarre SEO Tips For Beginners That Give Eye-Opening Results
Unmotivated	In record time, effortless	Effortless SEO Tips For Beginners That Rank You In Record Time

 

Title: Content Marketing Tips For Businesses 

Power Word Type	Words Used	New Title
Lust	Mind-blowing, Alluring	Mind-Blowing Content Marketing Tips To Make Your Business Alluring To Leads
Vanity	Fearless, Jaw-dropping	Fearless, Jaw-Dropping Content Marketing Tips For Small Businesses
Trust	No-Risk, Genuine	No-Risk Content Marketing Tips For Genuine Businesses

 

Title: Advantages Of Link Building 

Power Word Type	Words Used	New Title
Anger	Ass-Kicking, Crush	Ass-Kicking Advantages Of Link Building That Can Crush The Competition
Fear	Dangerous, Terror	Dangerous Advantages Of Link Building That Can Bring Terror To Your Competition

Do you see the difference? Yes, these titles are enhanced, but did you know there’s still another way you can raise the level of titles?

Yes, that’s right. This is with the use of numbers…

STEP 4: Add Numbers 

By adding numbers to the beginning of your titles, it helps to give you that extra lift you may be looking for. Let’s have a look using the same titles as before: 

Title: SEO Tips For Beginners 

New Title

7 Inexpensive SEO Tips For Beginners That Skyrocket Your Startup

10 Bizarre SEO Tips For Beginners That Give Eye-Opening Results

9 Effortless SEO Tips For Beginners That Rank You In Record Time

 

Title: Content Marketing Tips For Businesses 

New Title

18 Mind-Blowing Content Marketing Tips For Alluring Leads To Your Businesses

14 Fearless, Jaw-Dropping Content Marketing Tips For Businesses

19 No-Risk Content Marketing Tips For Genuine Businesses

 

Title: Advantages Of Link Building 

New Title

22 Ass-Kicking Advantages Of Link Building That Can Crush The Competition

24 Dangerous Advantages Of Link Building That Can Bring Terror To Your Competition

Adding something as simple as numbers can really help bring life to your already intriguing titles. 

STEP 5: Think Outside The Box 

Following a set order of instructions is good and all, but don’t forget to think outside the box. 

What I mean is, try to experiment with the titles and rearranging them with a mixture of power words, and even rearranging the way they’ve been written. 

Here’s an example of a couple from our previous topic title variations: 

Title: SEO Tips For Beginners 

Before

7 Inexpensive SEO Tips For Beginners That Skyrocket Your Startup

10 Bizarre SEO Tips For Beginners That Give Eye-Opening Results

9 Effortless SEO Tips For Beginners That Rank You In Record Time

After

7 Sensational Startup Marketing Tips To Skyrocket Your SEO Efforts

10 Eye-Opening SEO Mistakes That Can Make You A Victim

9 Expert SEO Tips That Give You A Building Block Of Unexplored Results

With just a bit of imagination, a sprinkle of thought, and some good old fashion skills, you can overcome your writer’s block and deliver outstanding article titles like no other. 

Takeaway

Whether you’re creating a new blog, link building, or you need to generate content for your own website, the title is the key to getting people’s attention. With these tips above, you, too, can be creative and defeat your mental block. 

Have you overcome your mind block?