So Many Posts But No Inspiration, Ottawa, August 2011

No matter how much you enjoy blogging, chances are you experienced or will experience writer’s block at one point or another. Bloggers all have different ways to deal with it. Some choose to go on a hiatus while others apologize bluntly about their lack of ideas and promise to return soon with more material. Finally, some writers will feel so discouraged that they will simply stop blogging.

So, what to blog about when there is nothing to blog about?

Well, there are several ways to hack yourself out of writer’s block.

Complete or start a meme

If you’ve recently been tagged for a meme, now would be the time to complete it. As long as you manage to spin it in a fun way, most readers don’t mind them. And don’t forget it’s the chance to get some backlinks too!

Haven’t been tagged lately? You can volunteer to complete a meme or start a new one. For instance, lists such as “X things…” are always popular. Identify your newly published list as a meme and write some basic rules. Usually, you should tell people to answer a set of questions or follow a model and list a few blogs you are “tagging”.

Don’t forget to comment on the tagged person’s blog, inviting them to visit your blog to participate in the game. This way, you can generate interest from other readers of the tagged blogs to visit your blog as well.

Offer a photo essay

If you are lost for words, why not use a picture? Pretty much everyone has a camera these days. Even if you are primarily a writer, you can try yourself at a photo essay.

Photo essays are basically a collection of pictures around a theme, such as a specific event, the weather, your home etc. Pick several of your best shots and arrange them in a way that suggests a story. For example, if you enjoy cooking, you could illustrate your best recipe step-by-step.

Try to see the world from a different point of view, and don’t forget that your readers come from all over the world. What is common for you could be very exotic to them, so don’t be afraid of taking pictures of your hometown, your house etc. Just add a little bit of text for context and don’t forget captions!

Start a series

Series are a great way to ensure you will have material for several weeks and some continuity in a theme. I usually start by picking a fairly broad subject I’m comfortable with. It is very important to write an outline before you start the series. If you promise your readers ten articles on XYZ topic, you don’t want to run out of steam halfway!

I usually write series articles little by little but I follow the general outline I devised when brainstorming the series, complete with keywords and ideas for each post.

Series give your readers something to look forward to and allow you to explore a chosen topic in depth. I find my previously published series often become reference posts!

Additional tip, make a list of article ideas

The best way to prevent writer’s block is to maintain an up-to-date list of article ideas. I have a little widget on Netvibes, my homepage, with tons of ideas I picked up while reading other blogs or listening to the news. I write down a short one-sentence summary of the topic along with keywords, quotes and examples, and I work on the article whenever I’m inspired.

Do you have any tips to tackle writer’s block? Have you ever tried any of the suggestions above?

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I literally don't have the time to write ten stories a day.

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23 Comments

  1. Elisabeth Stewart September 10, 2011 at 11:12 am

    I have a tendency to go on extended leave… 😉
    Another alternative is to look to the past for stories & experiences to write about.
    Your ideas are excellent – although I’d be hard pressed to present a photo essay – lack of skill & talent…

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 10, 2011 at 10:59 pm

      Tsk-tsk… give photography a try, you may be surprise! Forget about technicalities and fancy cameras, just show the world as you see it. You’re a writer, I’m sure you have eyes too!

      Reply
  2. Yogi September 10, 2011 at 11:55 am

    I lose inspiration when it is no longer fun. So I try and do something different. I look to other bloggers for inspiration a lot.

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 10, 2011 at 11:00 pm

      Other bloggers are an endless source of inspiration, that’s true!

      Reply
  3. Nisha September 10, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    I use 2nd & 4th methods. But I hardly get any time to have a look at those ideas. 🙁
    So these days I’ve reduced the frequency of posts. One more tip, maybe?

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 10, 2011 at 11:01 pm

      That’s true, posting less often can be a way to get out of a writer’s block. I admire people who post every day and never run out of steam… I don’t know how they do it!

      Reply
  4. Tulsa Gentleman September 10, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    Since I do a photo blog I tap into a number of photo memes that spur me on; Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, etc.

    Reply
  5. Tulsa Gentleman September 10, 2011 at 9:46 pm

    I do a photo blog and use a number of daily memes to spur me on: Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, etc.

    Reply
  6. Jeruen September 10, 2011 at 11:19 pm

    Ah, you mention several things here that I myself do. I do partake in memes: one recent example is this 30 Day Song Challenge that I am doing at the moment. And I have several series too, involving pictures as well.

    The thing is, the time I have to write articles aren’t always regular, so I schedule my posts, usually a month in advance. Right now, I have the song meme, a Buffalo-themed series, and a Philippines series all running at the same time. The bad thing about this is that sometimes, there are days in which I have something itching in my head to be written, and I write it, only to know that if I just let it be the last on my queue, then it’ll be published a month from now, when it’s not relevant anymore. Then I have to re-schedule things and move things around so this one gets published sooner. Aagghh…

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 12, 2011 at 10:49 am

      I started scheduling posts a few days in advance because I was tired of scrambling to finish an article. Photo essays for instance are not time-sensitive and I typically published them a week after the actual event. Keeping posts relevant is sometimes a headache, that’s for sure!

      Reply
  7. Cynthia September 11, 2011 at 3:37 am

    I have ideas but I’m too tired right now to write 🙁

    Reply
  8. Katherina September 11, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    Good list!Whenever I run out of ideas… I try to pick one picture that I have, that means something to me and try to express this in a couple of lines. Easy, short, AND has a photo! But I really would like to start a series… still looking for a theme though!

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 12, 2011 at 10:53 am

      There are so many themes for series, I can help you brainstorm if you want!

      Reply
  9. ristinw September 12, 2011 at 10:58 pm

    The series idea seems great. It pulls out reader’s curiosity to see what happen next. 😀

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 13, 2011 at 12:11 pm

      That too! I find most people (me include) get hooked very easily.

      Reply
  10. Gail at Large September 13, 2011 at 2:38 am

    I never run out of things to write about — I have the opposite problem of too many topics but not enough time.

    I used to do the odd theme, but it doesn’t really fit in with my current life which is quite random. A theme at one point seemed to look more like filler, which it wasn’t, it was more like something public to write about to distract myself from the private stuff.

    Meanwhile, my taxonomy when the blog started 9+ years ago doesn’t apply anymore, especially when I migrated everything to WordPress back in 2005 and I had to come up with categories. Since I didn’t really know how the blog would evolve I wasn’t making categories and tags properly and now I’m just waiting for an easy way to do it without starting over.

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 13, 2011 at 12:13 pm

      I do have to review my categories once in a while because some stick and some don’t. Blogs evolve as the same time as we change I guess!

      There is a very cool tag plugin for WordPress. Can’t remember the name right now but I used it to tag a backlog of posts when I moved from Blogger to WP and it saved my life.

      Reply
  11. kyh September 13, 2011 at 3:23 am

    I think I’ve used my “sorry for the lack of updates” wayyyy too much. You made me feel so bad about it Hahaa!

    I dont think I’ve run out of topics to write since I don’t blog that frequently as I used to before. I have tonnes of things to blog, just that I need the time and the motivation to do so. 😉

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 13, 2011 at 12:15 pm

      Motivation is another story 😆 Maybe blog less often? I find that when you put pressure on yourself to deliver articles often, the quality decreases and it’s more tempting to just give up.

      Reply
  12. Laurel September 13, 2011 at 7:23 am

    Great tips. I always try and keep a list of articles as it’s easy to forget them. I think it’s also fine to blog about past travels, as long as none of the info is time pertinent.

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 13, 2011 at 12:15 pm

      Blogging about past travels is definitely okay. At least I hope so because I occasionally do it when referring to a particular story!

      Reply
  13. Neeraj September 17, 2011 at 10:14 pm

    Any tips for having lots to write about but not getting enough time to complete all the articles??!

    I’ve a ton of material but no time… what to do.. 🙁

    Reply
    1. Zhu September 18, 2011 at 6:58 pm

      Hard to say… take it one article at the same, don’t put pressure on yourself. Complete two or three articles and schedule them a week apart maybe, and build more articles meanwhile… but I understand it’s hard when you’re busy!

      Reply

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