Hi, my name is Sarah…
…and I have a confession to make.
I’m not an excellent blogger. At least, when I’m sitting on my sofa, struggling to think of my next great post topic (or any topic at all!), I don’t feel like an excellent blogger.
Sometimes I get blogger’s block. And I suspect you might also.
We’ve all felt it — like we’ve said everything that there is to say on our favorite topic. So how can we break out of that uninspired, unmotivated mood that we’ve all been in at one time or another? How can we keep fresh content streaming on our blogs?
First step: we cut ourselves a little slack. Blogger’s block is an extremely common challenge that even the most seasoned professional bloggers face. If you get a little stuck sometimes, it doesn’t mean you aren’t cut out for blogging. And it most definitely doesn’t mean you should throw in the towel and call it quits. What it does mean, however, is that you now have the unique opportunity to grow as a writer. And grow we must.
Most blogs don’t last longer than three months. But your blog isn’t most blogs.
Second step: we persist. I’ve heard it said that when it comes to blogging,
“It is not motivation that keeps you writing. It is writing that keeps you motivated.”
At this point, we need to sit down, grab a pencil and a sketchbook, (and maybe another cup of coffee) and brainstorm strategies to help up come up with new ideas.
Here are three strategies that work for me, time and time again.
- Develop an editorial calendar.
Major newspapers and magazines use editorial calendars to help plan their month’s content, and you should too! I find that when I can plan my blog posts a day/two days/ a week in advance, I can build momentum in the content that I’m publishing. The very act of sketching out a rough schedule of the month’s posts inspires me with ideas for new post topics. Setting a course for my blog gives me the freedom of not worrying, “What am I going to write about today…” - Look to your readers.
Okay, now we know to plan our content, but how do we come up with ideas in the first place? Well, one place I consistently find inspiration for post topics is the comments section of my blog. Your readers are knowledgeable, creative, and just as interested in your blog topics as you are! Try writing a post that expands on an idea made in a reader’s comment. Or, go direct to the source, and ask your readers for their questions and submissions. When you look to your readers for post ideas, you are cultivating a community on your blog (and defeating blogger’s block at the same time!) - Thought mapping.
Okay, this is a more traditional method of coming up with new topics. But the reason it is so popular is because it really works. The idea here is that you take one post idea (even one from last month’s archives) and then brainstorm ways that the old topic can be expanded into multiple new topics. Try looking at you old topic from another angle. Take the opposite view point on an opinion post. Can you turn the old post into a series? Can you write a tutorial?
Take the time to sketch everything out on paper. At the end of this exercise, you’ll be able to generate whole pages full of new ideas. Now, some topics will be easier to extend than others, and that is perfectly fine. (You don’t need to turn ever topic into a series.) The important thing is to set aside 15 minutes a week, and dedicate it to mapping ideas for new blog posts. And if you’d like to use your computer to thought-map, go right ahead. Here is a link to some great mapping tools.
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