Inspiration Comes in Bursts (Tip #32)
It's Impossible To Be Inspired All The Time
Knowing what to write about on your website is one of the biggest hurdles you will face. It's likely that choosing a niche was tough too, but once you've done that, have a few pages on your blog, and start writing posts, the day will come when you are suddenly uninspired.
Wow, I really don't know what to write about today.
Or worse; Wow, I really don't feel like blogging today.
And some folks may have chosen a niche that they know a lot less about than they originally planned. I know that one of my recent projects started as an all around "financial advice" blog, with everything from real estate, to stock investing, to budgeting.
After about 3 months of writing I realized that I just didn't know what to write about anymore.
Murphy's Law?
But whatever your stumbling block is, work though it. What do I do?
To be honest, sometimes I write horrible blog posts. Seriously. There are some real stinkers out there that have my name attached to them.
But as I mentioned in another tip a few months ago, something is better than nothing.
People often use Murphy's Law as a reason to say why bad things happen. Actually, it's kind of a misnomer because that's not exactly what the law says. The basic principle behind it is that statistically speaking, everything will happen and some time or another. Given enough tries, and a wide enough range of variables, and sufficient time, something will go wrong.
But it also works in the other direction.
If you write enough low traffic, uninspired, no-engagement, bad, horrible, boring blog posts, it's almost guaranteed that you will have one really good one in there. Maybe not 1/5. Maybe not 1/10. But certainly 1/100!
In fact, I guarantee that if you write 100 blog posts, at least ONE of them will be awesome. And sometimes it takes just that one awesome blog post, or unexpected comment, or post that goes viral on social media that will remind you why you got started in the first place.
Amateurs wait for inspiration. The rest of us just get up and go to work. ~ Stephen King
I have realized that with my own writing, inspiration comes in bursts. I go through periods where I don't know what to write about and feel like nothing ranks, no one comments, and I'm doing everything wrong.
But then I go through phases where I suddenly realize that there is an audience somewhere that cares about what I'm writing about. There's someone that can't find the information they want, and it's my job to help them find the products they need.
And I think about this awesome opportunity that's been presented to me - the opportunity to build a real website about something I care about, and show it to thousands of people. Best of all, I can make money from it.
Anyone who's been following my tips may have noticed that I didn't post one for a couple weeks. I was in a very uninspired zone for a while. And well, today I realized that I really do enjoy what I do, and wanted to share my burst of inspiration.
Are you feeling inspired or uninspired today?
Recent Comments
38
Omg are you reading my mind? Well stop it! Just you quoting the great Stephen King scares me :)
perhaps your next web site should me on inspiration,I think there is a niche for that. Be inspiredtoday.com, Thanks for the reading Rolland
I love the Stephen King quote! I'm gonna hang it up somewhere... just have to decide where. Maybe I'll wait for inspiration to strike :)
OK... after this I may be starting to feel a little inspired again. Actually this kinda ties into what you were saying Thursday night in the Hangout... and it ties in perfectly with what you told us that Kyle or Carson had told you about writing x amount of posts to produce traffic and then conversion.
This was a great post, Nathaniell... thank ya', man!
I come across as more formal in my blogs sometimes, then more casual at others. I'm comfortable with both as this is who I am. I think that inspiration gets easier over time. But we all have those days when ideas are more difficult to put into writing. I agree that something is better than nothing. After all you can change it later. Doing nothing for a period of time can be the starter for "letting go" of your site and giving up. The lack of permanent motivation can creep in. I like to think too that somewhere, someone cares about what I'm writing.
Hi - I've been in an uninspired place for a few weeks - but I am an optimist - and I know if I ride this out, I'll get back to where I want to be. In the meantime, I'm soaking up what I can from you and other seasoned (I mean that in an admirable way :) ) WA'ers - as well as new people who I try to follow every few days, who can bring a new spin on their experiences with IM and so on. Thanks for posting that even the best of us, can just be in the wrong place sometimes - that really does help to support people when they are in the same place.
All the best, and thank you.
Mark
Best read on a Monday rainy morning in Sydney! :) (needless to say my motivation for even getting out of bed is like ZERO....)
I'll be sure to publish something tonite, even if it is a crappy blogpost this time...
thanx :)
I'm loving the rain! Will help to keep us safe from the fires for a while. We haven't had this much for 6 or 7 months. As I can't go out, I'm using the extra time to catch up on info at WA.
Good to be honest about this. I did write a long blog today but will anybody see it. I don't know. But it has been on my mind to write about it finally in the last week. But I definitely can identify with being inspired or not. Seems like I will be inspired for a little while then I take a long break. Not going to beat myself up about it though. I really needed to read this today. Thank you.
To be very honest, Nathaniell, I'm uninspired today :( Feel like I'm casting about a bit and not sure which way the shore is. Then I had an inspiring thought...ask for help. So I asked someone that I trust and value to take a look at my website and let me know what they think. Good or bad I'm willing to accept their comments and, from that, hope to find that flicker that will turn the flame bright once more. Oh...this post helped, too...thanks!
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Thanks, so I am going to continue writing no matter how I feel and get myself dirty at this work and due to law of averages, one of them might be my ticket out. Wow, thanks and your writing is engaging too