Dear Sarah Von,Where do you get all of your ideas for posts? I have a blog too and coming up with ideas is like pulling teeth! Half of them aren't good enough, or they don't relate to my blog's topic, or I just get writers block. Is there a bottomless idea well that you have access to that I'm unfamiliar with?
Oh you give me too much credit, friend. Because I'm not clever enough to write on one single topic, I chose to make Yes and Yes a 'lifestyle blog' which means that I can validate writing about masturbating Peruvians, my attempts at Scientology and what I imagine that Disney heroines would wear in 2009. So it's easy to come up with ideas when I have virtually no parameters! But if you're not keen to make your blog's topic Everything Ever, here are a few of the places I find ideas for posts.
Conversations
I'm sure The BFF has tired of having every good conversation end with me staring into the middle distance and saying "Hmmm. I'll have to write about that." But it's true! If something's interesting enough to hold you and your friends' attention for twenty minutes (not including when you're talking about The Hills) there's probably something in there worth writing about.
Physical Activity
I do some of my best thinking when I'm engaging in mindless, repetitive physical activity. That sounds pretty sexy, eh? If I'm taking an aerobics class, I need every spare brain cell to navigate all that stepping and kicking, but if I'm hiking or running, I can let my mind wander. For some reason, I get some of my best ideas while walking to and from work. And if I'm stuck on something, wandering around outside often helps me work it out. I'm sure I'm slowly becoming known around my neighborhood as That Blond Girl Who's Always Stalking About and Muttering.
Photo sites
Use with care, as these are highly addictive substances. You can easily fall into flickr and emerge three days later with a questionable tattoo and a bad hangover. If you're ready to give up your weekends to devote to drooling over extra great photos, try We Heart It or Visualize. Seriously, your internet life will never be the same.
Right brain activities
If I'm feeling really blocked (or ambitious) I try a few exercises that are supposed to help develop the right, creative hemisphere of your brain. A few of my favorites (that I totally stole from the November issue of O magazine)are:
*Writing (I mean physically, like with a pencil) different ways - in my left hand, backwards, upside down, in the mirror. I swear I can feel the wheels in my brain turning when I do this.
*Writing a conversation using a different hand for either side of the discussion
*Engaging in some of those coordination exercises. You know, patting your head while you rub your stomach, etc.
What do *I* want to know about/see?
Really, the most defining motivation behind anything that I write is creating something that I, as a reader, would want to see. When I first started reading blogs, I wanted to read one that was funny, smart, thought-provoking and covered all the topics that your average lifestyle magazine would: fashion, travel, design, inspiration. So if I'm reading a magazine or trolling the internet and see a hole in the content ("Where's the article about throwing theme parties?" "I want to read about non-stuff gift ideas!") I'll just write one myself!
What about all you bloggers/writers/artists out there?
Where do you find your inspiration?
13 comments:
I so agree about physical activity - for me it's like my bloggy inspiration will only come at inopportune times, like when I'm 14 minutes into a run, heartbeat up, no pen in sight. Awesome. Repeat idea in mind on loop until finish cardio. Blog.
I get most of my inspiration from other blogs! Thankfully, blogging about kids, there is no shortage of blogs with all sorts of different perspectives. I'm sure at some point I'll get hit with bloggers-block, but at the moment, I have more ideas for posts than I have time to write them!
I find a lot of my inspiration comes when I'm trying to go to sleep at night. As soon as I say 'Right brain, time to turn off for a bit and get some rest' it seems to want to do the opposite!
I also think it can help to have some regular features although not too many. For fashion blogs this is often daily outfit photos, or something like your 31 new things before 31 gives you something you can post about each time you complete something that your followers can follow along too!
I have a couple of tricks:
1. Schedule out your blog posts for a month. Do this during a time you feel especially creative. DO NOT WRITE POSTS during this time, just ideas and topics. You don't have to be slavish to your schedule once it's done, but it's a fantastic back-up plan.
2. Sign up for google alerts in your niche. Every morning, your inbox will have an e-mail chock full of links to interesting articles and features from around the web.
3. Save your IM conversations...they're always fantastic fodder for posts.
4. Like the ladies above said, read, read, read! Subscribe to at least 20-30 other blogs in or around your niche. Also, subscribe or buy magazines in your niche as well.
Great advice, SV!
i have no shortage of inspiration between blogs, magazines, the news... but how do you find the time!?
Do you set aside specific blog writing time or do you do it on the fly and then post whenever you have a moment?
dude, we have never talked about The Hills. i wouldn't even really know what that is exactly, except some show on tv. The Hills, pshaw.
Ashley,
I usually write down the idea as soon as I have it (or log into blogger and start a post with a bare outline) and then come back to it when I have time.
Darc,
You're right. We talk about fancy, intelligent things like Nip/Tuck, black knitwear and otters. God, but we are impressive!
Sar, exaaaaactly. ;)
My inspiration comes from the crazy stuff that's happening in my life. Like the places we visit, sh*t my husband says (which is almost always quite funny), stuff I hear on the radio or in the TV shows I watch.
Whenever I get an idea I make a draft in my Live Writer. And when I feel like writing I just go through my drafts, pick one and expand on it.
Right now I'm thinking about writing about "what would you do if you were invisible?" but have no idea what do write...
Great post!
I'd like to start having better content on my blog, and I look forward to utilizing your tips.......after nanowrimo, of course!
I write my posts in chunks and dole them out so I'm only publishing one per day. Some days have 3 posts written, some none, but I always have a few drafts kicking around. I tend to have more time to write on weekends, yet oddly, more time to read during the week. Funny how that goes.
FORUMS are my no. 1 source of ideas. You can find amazing conversations, germs of ideas and the pros and cons on almost every topic !
I'm doing this thing called nablopomo, where you post every day for a month. It is crazy, and I am discovering all these things about my writing that I didn't know about before.
I will never, ever do it again, but by gum, I'm gritting my teeth and getting through it since I started it.
Apart from that, keep your ears and eyes open, and figure out a few good tags/categories into which all your writing goes. It helps! Honest!
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