Part 2: What to Blog About When You’re Feeling Dry

There’s nothing we dread worse than not having anything to write about. And especially if you’re wanting to start a blog, this is something you want to start thinking on. Yes, before you start one.

Just as we discussed in last week’s post, you want to decide on the main topics your blog is going to focus on. Once you have that decided you can then start gathering ideas. There are many ways you can go about this whether you ask for friends’ input or sit down for a nice long brainstorming session. Either way, if you think about it now it will help you boat loads later on.

However, there will still be times when you’re staring at the blinking cursor with no inspiration, no topic, and a posting schedule to keep up with. It can be intimidating. But don’t let it get you down! There are ways to defeat anything—including this. So let’s go through some tips on how to find ideas when you’re, well, lacking them.

1: Ask Friends (And Followers!)

Don’t feel you’re alone in coming up with ideas! Don’t feel shy about asking your friends or even your followers for ideas on what they would like to see from you. Your readers should have an opinion on what you write and it’s a great way to find more topics.

(On that note, feel free to give me topics in the comments or through my contact page! I always love hearing from you all and would love to know what you all want to see more from me.)

However, if you haven’t started your blog yet, a great way to gain an immediate audience that I learned from The Young Writer’s Workshop is by having a Google form for people to fill out. All you have to do is have a few questions for them to fill out (keeping it simple is the best plan) and, before you know it, you’ll have loads of suggestions and topic ideas! My advice is to send this to everyone you know and then ask for them to send it to a friend or two. Don’t be shy about this, if you truly want to have a successful blog and platform then this is the way to jumpstart it!

This is what I did when starting this blog and it was so fun. I got so much encouragement from everyone who filled it out as well as ideas that I’m still working through! It also helps to show you what your readers are interested in. For example, I wouldn’t have thought people would care much for book reviews and never writing updates. But those were two things that I got a lot of requests for in my form. That was very helpful to know.

2: Read Other Blog Posts

Before you think of plagiarism, that is not what I mean by this. In a sense, everything has already been said when it comes to writing advice. But it hasn’t been said by you. That’s why each blog post is unique and has something different to offer because everyone has a different way of looking at things.

And that is why gathering ideas from others is not considered plagiarism—not when you take the idea and make it your own.

If you take an idea only to copy everything that person just said… don’t. Don’t do that, please. This is not what I’m encouraging here.

However, if you look around at writing advice going around or maybe popular articles a lot of people are liking—or even some unpopular pieces—it can be a great source to find ideas if your idea well is rather dry. And, by reading other blog posts, it can help you keep up with what writers like to see/are currently enjoying.

But, as I said, this is a fine line. I enjoy gathering ideas from all over the place (believe me, I can get ideas at the most random of times in the most random of places), but never plagiarize what someone else has already said.

3: Common Ground

Another great way to get ideas is to be observant. Whether that’s on Instagram, or other blog posts, or just by hanging out with writer friends. Observe common areas that writers struggle in and write about them. For example, writer’s block and procrastination are very common problems for writers, perhaps you can do some posts about how to avoid them next time you need an idea.

But, as a quick reminder, don’t always go for what’s trendy. It can be a great way to get a lot of views and growth, but it can also seem stale. Don’t forget to be you. Be unique! Be yourself.

Which leads us into…

4: Find Your Niche

A lot of people have their unique twist on writing advice that they add to their articles. For instance, Abbie Emmons is all about the science behind writing, K.M. Weiland simply wants to help other writers, and my blog is about helping writers find what method works best for them. As I said, in a sense everything has already been said, but when you give your twist on things it causes people to be more drawn to it.

Whatever your topic might be that you’ve decided to blog about, don’t simply repeat what’s already been said. Give your own opinions on it. Add a twist. Be yourself! Chances are, by simply adding your personality to it, your own unique way of looking at things, it will make it unique since every person is different.

Conclusion

There will always be times when you don’t know what to blog about. Don’t let that discourage you! Know that it happens to everybody. But also consider having some articles prewritten up to prepare for such times, it will help you not feel so overwhelmed.

Remember not to let self-doubt creep in and ruin your confidence. Sometimes, when we don’t know what to write, it’s not so much that we don’t know, it’s that we don’t have the confidence in ourselves to actually write it. Self-doubt is very destructive in the path he creates, but don’t let him get you down.

Write that blog post. Write that novel. Have the confidence and carry it through. You’ve got this. I have faith in you!

Your turn!

How do you find ideas for blog posts? Have you found your niche? What are some topics you would love to hear me talk about?

Blessings, Allyson

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