Writer’s block happens to the best of us, even to top-notch bloggers. Sometimes, you have no important thoughts to share, nothing to say and you’re feeling empty inside. Or maybe you write a draft but then don’t think it’s worth publishing and you kick it to the curb. Not being able to publish anything new can be because you don’t think it’s good enough, you’re worried about your readers liking or disliking it or you don’t know what to write.
Overthinking only represses creativity and makes the problem worse. Let’s go through a few tested tips that’ll get the engine running again even if you feel like you’re all out of creativity juice.
- Ask your readers. Why go too far? Some bloggers think it’s wrong to openly ask their readers what they want to read about or know but this is actually a simple and effective method to help you with writing. Read your readers’ comments and emails, connect with them, listen to them and get a better idea of what they need and want.
- Define your target audience. You must define the crowd you’re trying to reach out to. Don’t try to focus on everyone and satisfy just anyone. If your blog is about books, you need to focus on what bookworms are into, what they’re looking to read.
- Make an ideas list. Never neglect an idea that randomly pops into your head. Even if it doesn’t seem like much, write it down! Always have this list with you. You can create it on Google doc so you’d easily access it from your phone. If you keep this up, you’ll eventually have a nice stock of ideas to play around with when you’re stuck.
- Be a Copycat. And I don’t mean in the literal term where you rip off other bloggers, but it’s always wise to check up every once in a while on bloggers in your niche and find topics that worked for them. How would you know what worked? Using BuzzSumo you can find out their most popular articles that were shared on social media. You can add your spin to this article, do a contradicting piece or add it to your ideas list for later.
- Recreate or develop your big hits. Look into your archive and pull out your most popular blog posts. Now, how can that help? You can recreate the piece into an improved version; maybe have a new take on things. You can do a followup post or a response post with a different opinion. The options are endless. If it’s worked for you once before, it’s guaranteed to spark something new.
- Trending online. What is new and interesting out there? The internet is full of hidden treasures waiting to be explored. Check out Google Trends for the biggest talked-about topics, Twitter for trending tweets or hashtags, Facebook groups in your niche are always talking about something and even ask Reddit for topics related to your blog.
- Get keywords to help. Today finding an idea is as simple as typing important keywords that you want to write about. Using tools like Keyword Tool and HubSpot’s Blog Idea’s Generator will give you enough ideas to last you all week, and maybe even longer. For example, if your blog is about cheese, you can use keywords like cheese, delicious, and recipes. You’ll get at least one new idea to tackle.
- Read then read again. Reading is the key to writing. Read anything! Books, articles, blog posts, or anything else worth reading. It will not only improve your writing skills but it’ll give you inspiration for new ideas, something as small as a word can lead to an idea.
- Don’t hesitate to publish. As long as you publish whatever you have, even if you don’t think it’s good enough, you’re unlikely to fall into a pickle. Not every post needs to be perfect but if you’ve taken the time to work on it, it deserves to be published.
Coming up with new blog ideas may seem hard but if you try these simple techniques, you’re guaranteed to come up with at least three ideas to post about. And remember, no idea is a bad idea.