Let’s be honest, okay? This happens to all of us. We might not call it writer’s block, but the truth is that we all have our off days.
But what if I were to tell you that there are certain strategies that you can use whenever you have no idea what to write about.
Interested?
Read on.
Great artists’ steal…
I’m just going to be extremely honest: the novice wants to be original and brilliant so bad that he often fails to realize that he only got kind of good by imitating others.
Good artists copy, great artists steal.
I am not advising you to plagiarize other bloggers, I am simply telling you to see the information to acquire differently. Like Jordan so nicely put it, everything you read, see, or hear is food for your creativity.
Now, here’s what you can do with someone else’s content:
- Curate content. Go to your ten favorite blogs, and then find your favorite post on each of them. Publish a post listing these top ten posts, and explain why you like them. You don’t even have to think about being creative, and everyone you feature there will appreciate it.
- Ask friends for ideas. Reach out to your friends, and ask them what they’d like you to write about. Do a bit of brainstorming with online friends as well.
- Ask your readers. Yup. When you have no idea what to write about on your blog you can write a “what would you like me to write about” post
- Do an interview. It’s a lot easier to write a few interview questions than it is to write an entire post! Plus, it can be a great way to connect with really interesting people.
- Ask for a few guest posts. This is a great source of content, and it’s easier than most people think – find a few blogs that are your size or smaller, whose content you really like, and invite them to write a guest post for you. That’s about it.
- Write a review. A movie, a book, a TV show, or a product that you’d be happy to endorse. No need to get too creative, just explain what you like about it, and why. And then write what you don’t like about it, and why.
- Link to old posts. Write a short list of your old favorite posts that newer readers probably haven’t read. You can even do a quick deconstruction, and explain what you were thinking when you wrote the posts, what worked, and what didn’t, what would you do differently.
Use two unrelated dots and force yourself to connect them
Okay, so maybe you do want to come up with a great original idea to write about, but it just isn’t happening.
In that case, try to take two unrelated things and force them together into a really interesting post.
Connect dots that are far apart from each other. Yes, one of them has to be about something your readers would like to read about, and the other one can be something unrelated, but still familiar to your audience.
What you end up with are posts that kind of go like this:
- Donald Trump’s Guide to Blogging
- Don Draper’s Guide to Fantastic Writing
- The Fight Club Guide to Blogging
Are you starting to see the pattern?
Sometimes inspiration does not have to find your working
Stop trying to work. Just stop. Don’t force your brain to come up with words and ideas. Do the following instead:
- Go for a walk. Or a run. Getting your heart rate up is a great way to grow your brain. And meditate. And, yeah, exercise actually does make your brain bigger.
- Take a shower. Relax your body, and your mind will follow. Cliche? Perhaps. But if it works, who cares?
- Watch a movie/read a book/listen to music. Just going to say it again: feed your brain. I use the three mediums daily (read information, listen to it, and watch it) in order to stay inspired and come up with ideas to blog on.
When you do have ideas… write like crazy
When you feel inspired, write as much as you can. Write blog posts and save them as drafts to be used specifically when you have no idea what to blog about.
Which of these methods have you tried? Which one would you try?
Let me know in the comments section below.
Thanks for sharing 😀
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Thank you for reading, Jules.
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I think I have tried most of them before. I came across the idea recently that when your mind is full of ideas and you need clarity write everything for 10 minutes and throw it away. I was initially sceptical about this but it does work. Afterwards you will have good organised ideas.
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Great ideas. I may have to steal some 🙂
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Thanks for this Christian.
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Good tips! I deffo agree with writing when you’re inspired and saving them for later!
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Thank you, Conni.
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Good read I enjoyed it.
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People forget that there’s no copyright on ideas. If I like a question I see on Reddit, or a blog post idea I come across on one of the group boards I’m in on Pinterest, I will mentally note it, or/and write it down. I usually end up finding my own angle on the subject anyway, so I only really take the initial inspiration from the other sources.
I do also write blog posts I try but fail to find myself, so that someone else will potentially find my post. 😃👍
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Love it! Writing like crazy when I am inspired helps me alot. I hate writing when I am not in the mood and feel like my content is not what I want so I try to capitalize on the times I’m feeling funny and inspired
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Great tips! Well written
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Thank you.
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Thanks Cristian! Great ideas to note. I’ve been saving blog posts that I do like. And yes, when you get so inspired…write like crazy and save them on drafts until you’re able to finalize and publish them. I definitely would follow these suggestions. Keep up the good work in all your posts!
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Thank you. I will.
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Great tips. I have set myself a separate email address for myself and when I see something that inspires me to write about… an article, topic, blog post, etc., I send it to my designated email address (for blogging) and I now have a whole collection of ideas and inspirations to write about that I can easily access when I need. 🙂 Hey I think I will blog this idea right/write now lol!
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Great tip, thanks!
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Not to be critical, but Pablo Picasso’s quote was “Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.”
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Funny, but Picasso probably stole that quote too. Actually, there are quite a few others before him who expressed similar thoughts. I have changed it a bit, too.
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it’s always some new ideas in my head, i hope i could have more time to post it all
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Thanks, Christian, for your great ideas & everyone else for your comments.. I’m making a list of points in my journal, to use later.
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Thank you, Lorna.
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Linking to old posts
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THANK YOU, just what I needed. I was really busy this week studying for a PAL course and just couldn’t wrap my head around writing for the blog and what about. Your advice came right on time! I will do a review of a book that fits the topic of our blog.
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I definitely save blog post ideas as drafts – helps a lot! I also make notes on my phone when I am busy with something else and get an idea for a blog post topic 😃
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This is so helpful! Many of these are sort of obvious yet I never would have thought of them. Genius! Thanks for the tips and happy blogging xx
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Thank you, Gisselle.
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I think I will go with reading books and watching movies and writing reviews about them…Thank you
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Excellent post! Amazing tips!
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Thank you!
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I must say, every article that you write is a godsend – i can’t get enough of them! how come you write so frequently? i’d love to know the process behind you writing an article, is there some kind of ritual you follow? AHAH, sorry, got carried away – awesome stuff my man.
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Thank you so much!
As for a ritual… Don’t know. I just do my best every single day. That’s about it.
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Love these tips! I have a tendency not to write at all when I am fresh out of ideas but I should definitely try these! Thank you for sharing
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Good options
Thanks very much!
Best regards ✨
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I wrote down ideas I can refer to. Having said that, I still need to be in the right mood to wrap my head around those ideas. Surely, your tips are a good thing to come back to, too. Thank you for sharing them.
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As always your posts are loaded with wonderful ideas and inspiration as well.
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Thank you!
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Great Post! x
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Lol where was this blog over the weekend? I couldn’t think of ANYTHING at all to write about. I’m going to make sure and lock all of your information in because this blog taught me a few things so thank you for sharing. 😀
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thank you Cristian Mihai, I learned a lot from your blog
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My pleasure, Miraj!
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you just helped me a great deal…thank you!
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My pleasure!
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👍
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Make hay while the sun is shining…always produces the best content.
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Thank you again for informative and valuable reading! I was wondering though, if I were to mention other blogs/bloggers in my posts, do I ask them for their permission first?
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Not necessary, but you could if you wanted to be extra nice with them.
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I really needed this, thanks.
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My pleasure.
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Great tips for finding inspiration
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I’ve been working on a draft this week for my upcoming blog post, and all of a sudden I realized how it happened to be a LOT like a blog post from a different blogger that I follow. I feel that maybe reading the post made the information get stuck in my head, so even when I thought I was writing original content, I happened to be taking ideas from a different blog post without realizing it.
Of course, my take on the subject is a bit different, yet it still has some of the same key elements. Should I still go through with it, or would it be too much like copying? I feel that maybe some of my readers who read her blog would recognize the super similar ideas, and that would be kind of bad.
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Hi Mary,
If you offer a different perspective, it’s okay. You can always mention/quote the original blog post too.
The truth is there’s hardly anything new to write about, so whether you can recognize what inspired you or it’s your subconscious that made you think something up, it’s probably not an original idea, and that’s okay.
It’s your perspective over things, your choice of words, the way you translate feelings that matter.
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Thank you so much Cristian, I feel a lot better about it now! 😊
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