Smash your writer’s block with The Hulk Summary™

#writing #productivity #motivation

WRITING IS HARD
YOU THINK TOO MUCH!
WE HAVE A SOLUTION
THE HULK SUMMARY!
CHANNEL INNER HULK VOICE!
BULLET LIST!
FEW WORDS
SAY IT. EFFECTIVE!
NOW, SMASH CAR!

Look, when you work with content, it’s not always easy to get going. Perhaps you only manage to come up with the same tired clichés, or you’re too close to the product and find yourself knee-deep on a tangent describing how the design choices were inspired by something your uncle said in a birthday party.

Whatever it is that keeps you from writing that succinct post that presents the what, how, and why to your readers without wasting their time, there is a remedy. We called it “The Hulk Summary”.

The method is simple. First channel your inner Hulk voice (everyone has one hidden in them somewhere), add a touch of rage and use it to describe whatever you need to get writing on. Hammer down that shift key (caps lock is a cop-out) and type max 4 words for each bullet to capture the core sentiment of what you’re arguing. The constraints will set your mind free.

You might not find crude shouting methodology enough to tease out the core of what you try to say. I'm happy to announce that The Hulk Summary™ is fully compatible with renowned communication frameworks whose efficiencies are proven by probably too expensive consultancy hours, such as the SCQA-model from The Minto Pyramid Principle. Put differently:

WHAT SITUATION!
COMPLICATION! DIFFICULTIES!
I HAVE QUESTION!
ANSWERS ARE DUE.

This method will most definitively not be developed further. We have loads to things to ship over at sanity.io. But now that it is introduced to a wider audience, we would love to hear your success stories about how it saved your whole content marketing department from writer’s block and pencil fear. Or how you made an interesting friendship from using it as a quirky icebreaker at a gathering. Literally hit us up on Twitter and let us know, hashtag thehulkmethod.

(No Banners were hurt in writing this blog post.)