I Don't Know What To Write!

byhowmuch

1.6K followers

12 years ago

I don’t think there is a blogger/journalist/writer alive that hasn’t said those words. No matter how prolific you are, at some point in your writing experience you will glumly face your screen, fingers resting
lightly on the keyboard, and realize nothing is appearing, either on the screen or in your head. The negative feelings this can generate are plethoric—anything from anxiety to outright panic to a kind of paralysis that prevents a person from writing anything.

So what do you do? Here are seven suggestions to get around your writer's block:

1.Go to the library. Spending a day there in the subject area your blog/website is about is
the single most productive thing you can do with your afternoon. Libraries allow you to take piles and piles of books out at one go. Be indiscriminate, as long as it’s about your subject or is related in some way to it. Then go home, make a cup of coffee, and peruse them at your leisure. Ideas for articles will jump out at you.

2.Go to the coffee shop and have a cup of coffee. Spend the time listening (without making it obvious) to the conversations around you. The conversations will be about what concerns the average person today. Think about how you can work it into what your website is about.

3.Read the newspaper. Check the classifieds. Peruse the funnies. Somewhere in there is the seed of an idea for your post.

4.Buy magazines related to your subject (or go to the library and check out back issues). Back issues are amazine idea generators; current issues tell you what people are looking for, because
magazines have their finger on the pulse of the readership in order to sell magazines.

5.Ask friends and family if they have anything they want to see on your website. You would be amazed at what they can come up with.

6.Keep a notebook handy. Jot down anything that comes to mind, not just what you think might make a good article. If it seems completely unrelated, put a little dash beside it and try to work it into a
relatable subject. A lot of it will end up being drek, but now and then you will find a golden nugget in there and it will teach you to look beyond the surface for ideas.

7.Watch programs or visit retail stores related to your product or subject. Look at how the information is presented. What do they lead with (what’s the first thing you see when you enter the store)? How do
they conclude(back of the store)? What’s the first, second, third, last thing you see/hear?

So there you have it—my seven suggestions for generating ideas. Hope it helps.