How do you come up with something new to write about frequently enough to build a successful blog? As blogs become more common, so too does the problem of blogger’s block: that awkward moment when you feel as though you’ve run out of things to say.
Coming up with enough material to write a weekly post is a big challenge for many people – so unless you have a background or passion for writing, be careful about the frequency you commit to.
The first few entries will probably roll out effortlessly but after a month or two of this you could face the challenge of scratching beyond the surface to create more material.
A successful blogger constantly has their eyes and ears open for topics to blog about. Some bloggers thrive on last minute deadlines (guilty!) and others like to get them written with a lot of time to spare.
To make things easier on yourself, it pays to think about ideas for your blog before sitting down to actually write.
With smartphones being so prevalent most people now have the means to record photos, text, notes or even voice recordings in their daily travels that can be compiled at a later date. These will provide plenty of inspiration – even if you don’t use any of your recorded ideas you will no doubt trigger new thoughts and ideas that will produce the ideas you need.
However, if it’s too late to wind back time and you really need to burn some words out right now, there are a few little tricks you can try. While your blog theme will shape your content, here are a few idea starters:
- Turn on the TV and make a note of the first five advertisements you see. Now consider the problems these products are trying to solve and the people that need them solved. This will give you five potential starting points. For example an ad for recycled paper, which is targeted at businesses, could trigger a post about how businesses can be informed about environmentally friendly products and practices.
- Find any book in your house, open to a random page and read a random sentence. Find a connection between the sentence you’ve picked and the day you’ve had and use this as an idea starting point.
- Imagine you are someone else for a day. Someone famous, or a relative, an old friend or even someone you don’t like. See the world through their eyes, their challenges, their pleasures. This can trigger any number of ideas.
There are countless ways to draw inspiration, but you need to be active. It is easy to look at a blank page or screen and become increasingly frustrated or distracted from your task. There are many ways to cultivate ideas rather than just waiting for them to pop into your head.
I’m off to look for some right now…