Sometimes, blog ideas just do not jump into your head. Usually, this happens when you sit down at your computer and think to yourself, “I’m going to be really busy the next couple of days and I have a nice, relaxing open slot of time right now. I think I’ll write ahead.”
I’ve only heard rumors of this affliction, but if I had ever experienced it (recently….today…) I would offer up the following ideas to get the faucet in your brain dripping with delectable blog posts once more.
1. Reflect on blog posts that you’ve found interesting lately, especially the ones you commented on. Your little hamster in your brain might start running when you remind him what he got running about before.
2. Research shows that there is always something going on in the world. Scan the headlines. Feeling fired up?
3. Scan Twitter. Often, there are people posting things on Twitter, and these things can cause a myriad of reactions ranging from interest, intrigue, paranoia, disgust, laughing, and more. These are all reactions that can lead to a successful blogging scenario.
4. Sometimes the arts can come in handy. Consider the music scene, movies, books, art exhibitions, or what PBS is showing tonight. The nice thing about turning to this arena for intellectual stimulation is that sometimes you can end up with a post that actually makes it look like you had it planned all along!
5. Ask people in your community what you should write about. Those who say, “Nothing, please be quiet” are probably just joking with you. Probably.
6. Take a nap/go to bed, depending on the time of day. Sometimes I wake up from being unconscious and my brain has blogged all by its lonesome. This methodology is not recommended for working hours, please note.
7. Get busy doing something else, like shoveling snow, weeding the garden, washing the dishes, or sweeping the floor. The sheer boredom your brain experiences from these tasks will motivate it to get you back to the computer.
8. Argue with yourself. Pick a post that you wrote six months ago and see if you can make a great case against everything you said. Rather than this resulting in your community categorizing as you as a “flip-flopper,” it’s highly probable that they will view you merely as evolving into a more perfect and well-rounded being.
9. Write a short post that poses a question to your community. The awesome thing about this is that in essence, you are asking your community to write your blog post for you. It’s like cheating on your homework. Right out there in the open!
10. Last but not least, you could always write a post about what you do when the blog well runs dry. But who would do that?
What do you do when your blog well runs dry? Have you tried any of these steps before? Let us know what worked for you!
Image Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/abcdz2000