August 14, 2008 at 12:43Can't find an interesting topic to post on your blog? Read these tips!
- Transfer
This post is a translation of an extremely free translation of Article 24 Things to do When Stuck for a Topic to Blog About , authored by Darren Rowse .
The article talks about how you can catch your muse by the tail and use it normally, in terms of generating ideas for new posts on your blog. I highly recommend it!
Work your head!
This is exactly the blogger’s most important tool. If you grasp it, you can generate hundreds of ideas, both new and in continuation of what you have already written.
Personally, I try to use this tool regularly :)
©
Change the environment.
If you have a laptop, or even a PDA, then try writing a post in a cafe (you can use headphones), or in a park early in the morning. Surely you will be surprised at how many thoughts, ideas and how clearly the head works.
A cafe, an apartment of friends who left for a weekend or a summer residence - I tried - it really helps - creative flows like a river.
Answer some important questions.
The best posts for a blogger are those that touch on either a rare topic or a hot topic. In either case, you need to know the topic, if not thoroughly, but very well. There are a lot of ways to find a way to resolve the issue that you cover:
* ask readers to ask a question on the topic that you are going to write about;
* Ask other bloggers to ask questions about the topic you are going to write about;
* go to a thematic, for example, a forum, and read - what questions are asked there;
* Be sure to check the comments of readers for questions on the topic;
* similarly check comments on other thematic blogs;
* get into the shoes of the reader, who does not understand the question at all - and answer the most pressing questions yourself;
As a bonus: add a questionnaire to your blog where your readers can ask questions. This will save offtopic in other posts, and partially motivates a person to leave a question.
Start with a headline.
The headline is what in the modern world allows you to attract attention. Have a thrice interesting article. but a rotten headline - you won’t be read in the amount that they could read if your headline shouted “read me !!”. Unfortunately, the vast majority of bloggers do not understand this.
I just began to come to this way of writing posts - it doesn’t always work out, but still.
Take a break.
If in a nutshell stalled - go for a walk, get distracted.
Just do not drink alcohol - often it interferes. Writing posts while drunk is a guarantee that you will blush tomorrow.
Set a deadline for your post.
This is extremely motivating, but you must have a remarkable willpower to comply with the deadlines.
It motivates me a slightly different moment - if I do not write for several days - the number of subscribers is slowly starting to fall. Not that I would be chasing puzomerki - just a shame that they stop reading me. Although the decline is likely due to search engines and news feed robots.
Do not be distructed.
Another serious test for a blogger. Turn off all clients that you can turn off without serious consequences. Do not be distructed.
Alternatively, you can deploy the reactor to the entire monitor, for example, DarkRoom will help you - it closes the entire system behind it - it greatly contributes to the calm process of writing an article in a blog.
I do this translation this way - I deployed the original on one monitor - on the second I write this text. Nothing distracts. Once in a while I check my mail or ICQ, for example, to collect my thoughts or relax a bit.
Write a post based on the previous successful post.
For example, you have a post written by you a few months ago, which caused a considerable resonance, a bunch of comments and a surge in the growth of subscribers. Write a post based on its motives, develop a topic, indicate the other side of the coin, but you never know - answer the questions of commentators not in the comments, but organize them in a separate post.
Personally, I do this periodically. After some time, you will be recognized from afar with your posts “based on motives”.
Start from afar.
Do not start writing a post right off the bat - carefully bring to the topic of the post, for example, with your own thoughts and your own opinion. It is appreciated.
Write in your own words.
Do not invent exquisite turns of speech - write in your own words - for sure you can convey the idea more accurately. Many bloggers write their thoughts on paper, or even on a voice recorder.
Change your writing style.
Looking at the previous paragraph, you probably thought - the author drives, but no - he’s right - you don’t need to lock yourself in the frame, if you want to write sports posts in one style, and cooking posts in another style - why not?
Ideas around you!
Many everyday things and actions contain a bunch of ideas for a good post. Work, random thought in the subway, on the way home - but never mind - how do I know what your everyday life is like?
I regularly find thoughts and ideas for posts in this way.
Read a lot on the subject.
How to do it? Climb a lot on the Web, read blogs of people who write in the same area, read forums and articles in online magazines, and don’t disdain to use a translator to translate an article of interest from another language.
Look for information in offline literature.
For example, go to a magazine stall and see what they write about. Surely on the subject of magazines (especially if they are specific), queries to search engines will temporarily increase - why not stick around and make a post on the topic?
For example, I podsuetsilsya with a post on IETester - in the end I am the first to issue Yandex at the request of "IETester".
Change your point of view.
You wrote a great post some time ago? Great - create movement and resonance - write on the same topic, but take the opposite position, make black white and vice versa. This will argue with readers.
If you are exhausted, squeezed like a lemon and no thoughts at all - ask your friends, other bloggers or read comments on previous posts, looking for an interesting topic for posting.
Find your time.
Empirically, find a time when you are most comfortable writing in a blog, though do not overdo it - study or work is more important than a blog, of course, if you are not a professional blogger;).
At your most golden time, completely disconnect from the outside world - and voila - create a masterpiece of the printed word.
Large pictures versus small pictures.
Many bloggers try to compensate for the meager post with a large number of pictures, illustrations, or one or two large pictures. I will not teach to live - just be guided by common sense.
Sometimes I have a desire to shove a big picture - I really beat my hands on time and limit myself to a wide picture, but not high and not heavy for that.
Ask readers questions.
This allows you to develop a conversation in the comments. Sometimes comments are more valuable than the post itself, due to the fact that they have collected a bunch of opinions, often well-reasoned.
Do you ask questions to your readers? ;)
Keep track of your area of interest.
Subscribe to RSS, follow the blogs that you reprint or quote. This is useful for broadening one's horizons.
I have more than a hundred tapes in the reader that I regularly read.
Summarize what others write about.
The recipe is simple - choose a topic, read a bunch of posts on it, then write your own post, which includes all opinions, all aspects and facts. This is a very useful and valuable experience - and most importantly, readers are interested.
These tips are not at all mandatory, but I highly recommend them. If you have your own muse - why not? ;) Share it - if this is not the secret method of ninja bloggers.
The article talks about how you can catch your muse by the tail and use it normally, in terms of generating ideas for new posts on your blog. I highly recommend it!
Work your head!
This is exactly the blogger’s most important tool. If you grasp it, you can generate hundreds of ideas, both new and in continuation of what you have already written.
Personally, I try to use this tool regularly :)
© Change the environment.
If you have a laptop, or even a PDA, then try writing a post in a cafe (you can use headphones), or in a park early in the morning. Surely you will be surprised at how many thoughts, ideas and how clearly the head works.
A cafe, an apartment of friends who left for a weekend or a summer residence - I tried - it really helps - creative flows like a river.
Answer some important questions.
The best posts for a blogger are those that touch on either a rare topic or a hot topic. In either case, you need to know the topic, if not thoroughly, but very well. There are a lot of ways to find a way to resolve the issue that you cover:
* ask readers to ask a question on the topic that you are going to write about;
* Ask other bloggers to ask questions about the topic you are going to write about;
* go to a thematic, for example, a forum, and read - what questions are asked there;
* Be sure to check the comments of readers for questions on the topic;
* similarly check comments on other thematic blogs;
* get into the shoes of the reader, who does not understand the question at all - and answer the most pressing questions yourself;
As a bonus: add a questionnaire to your blog where your readers can ask questions. This will save offtopic in other posts, and partially motivates a person to leave a question.
Start with a headline.
The headline is what in the modern world allows you to attract attention. Have a thrice interesting article. but a rotten headline - you won’t be read in the amount that they could read if your headline shouted “read me !!”. Unfortunately, the vast majority of bloggers do not understand this.
I just began to come to this way of writing posts - it doesn’t always work out, but still.
Take a break.
If in a nutshell stalled - go for a walk, get distracted.
Just do not drink alcohol - often it interferes. Writing posts while drunk is a guarantee that you will blush tomorrow.
Set a deadline for your post.
This is extremely motivating, but you must have a remarkable willpower to comply with the deadlines.
It motivates me a slightly different moment - if I do not write for several days - the number of subscribers is slowly starting to fall. Not that I would be chasing puzomerki - just a shame that they stop reading me. Although the decline is likely due to search engines and news feed robots.
Do not be distructed.
Another serious test for a blogger. Turn off all clients that you can turn off without serious consequences. Do not be distructed.
Alternatively, you can deploy the reactor to the entire monitor, for example, DarkRoom will help you - it closes the entire system behind it - it greatly contributes to the calm process of writing an article in a blog.
I do this translation this way - I deployed the original on one monitor - on the second I write this text. Nothing distracts. Once in a while I check my mail or ICQ, for example, to collect my thoughts or relax a bit.
Write a post based on the previous successful post.
For example, you have a post written by you a few months ago, which caused a considerable resonance, a bunch of comments and a surge in the growth of subscribers. Write a post based on its motives, develop a topic, indicate the other side of the coin, but you never know - answer the questions of commentators not in the comments, but organize them in a separate post.
Personally, I do this periodically. After some time, you will be recognized from afar with your posts “based on motives”.
Start from afar.
Do not start writing a post right off the bat - carefully bring to the topic of the post, for example, with your own thoughts and your own opinion. It is appreciated.
Write in your own words.
Do not invent exquisite turns of speech - write in your own words - for sure you can convey the idea more accurately. Many bloggers write their thoughts on paper, or even on a voice recorder.
Change your writing style.
Looking at the previous paragraph, you probably thought - the author drives, but no - he’s right - you don’t need to lock yourself in the frame, if you want to write sports posts in one style, and cooking posts in another style - why not?
Ideas around you!
Many everyday things and actions contain a bunch of ideas for a good post. Work, random thought in the subway, on the way home - but never mind - how do I know what your everyday life is like?
I regularly find thoughts and ideas for posts in this way.
Read a lot on the subject.
How to do it? Climb a lot on the Web, read blogs of people who write in the same area, read forums and articles in online magazines, and don’t disdain to use a translator to translate an article of interest from another language.
Look for information in offline literature.
For example, go to a magazine stall and see what they write about. Surely on the subject of magazines (especially if they are specific), queries to search engines will temporarily increase - why not stick around and make a post on the topic?
For example, I podsuetsilsya with a post on IETester - in the end I am the first to issue Yandex at the request of "IETester".
Change your point of view.
You wrote a great post some time ago? Great - create movement and resonance - write on the same topic, but take the opposite position, make black white and vice versa. This will argue with readers.
If you are exhausted, squeezed like a lemon and no thoughts at all - ask your friends, other bloggers or read comments on previous posts, looking for an interesting topic for posting.
Find your time.
Empirically, find a time when you are most comfortable writing in a blog, though do not overdo it - study or work is more important than a blog, of course, if you are not a professional blogger;).
At your most golden time, completely disconnect from the outside world - and voila - create a masterpiece of the printed word.
Large pictures versus small pictures.
Many bloggers try to compensate for the meager post with a large number of pictures, illustrations, or one or two large pictures. I will not teach to live - just be guided by common sense.
Sometimes I have a desire to shove a big picture - I really beat my hands on time and limit myself to a wide picture, but not high and not heavy for that.
Ask readers questions.
This allows you to develop a conversation in the comments. Sometimes comments are more valuable than the post itself, due to the fact that they have collected a bunch of opinions, often well-reasoned.
Do you ask questions to your readers? ;)
Keep track of your area of interest.
Subscribe to RSS, follow the blogs that you reprint or quote. This is useful for broadening one's horizons.
I have more than a hundred tapes in the reader that I regularly read.
Summarize what others write about.
The recipe is simple - choose a topic, read a bunch of posts on it, then write your own post, which includes all opinions, all aspects and facts. This is a very useful and valuable experience - and most importantly, readers are interested.
These tips are not at all mandatory, but I highly recommend them. If you have your own muse - why not? ;) Share it - if this is not the secret method of ninja bloggers.