Have you ever been in a situation where you think of putting up a blog post without having any idea of what are you going to write about? Well, this happens with me every single time when I have to write something for this very blog. I sit with my laptop open, scratching my head for some ideas before deciding to give myself a break to think of something original. Writing sure isn’t as difficult as deciding on what to write, is it?
Despite knowing that content is a must to run this blog and consistency being even more important, I always find myself struggling for inspiration (and motivation). And I’m sure I’m not the only one who often finds herself stuck in the writer’s block as almost every blogger goes through something similar every now and then. To have an inspiration for your blog posts is a task in itself. So here’s a compilation of ideas from my own experience on what you can do when you feel short of inspiration for your next blog:
1. Inject and share incidents from your real life – Make sure that you communicate it through your blog posts that you too are a person living a daily life, just as your readers. The best way you can do this is to talk about your mistakes, inject incidents from your real life into your blog posts. The content you will then write will be far more interesting for people to engage with as they’d look at it as a story than as a mere piece of writing. If you come across someone whose story inspires you, include the same in your content. If you have failed and yet came out strong, let your readers know (if you are willing to open up to them). You don’t need to serve the ins and outs of your life for the world to see, but just enough for them to relate with you as a person and not just as a brand.
2. Quora: The Bloggers’ Treasure – I’m a big, big fan of Quora. It has an answer for all the questions that I often tend to google about. Although I don’t interact on the platform, Quora sure gives me an idea of what problems people are facing right now. This very blog post is inspired by Quora and I simply love how it has turned out to be such an insightful Q&A platform that is now being used all over the world.
3. Providing value with your blog content – Every now and then, you need to stop and ask yourself – Is my blog providing answers to the questions that my readers might be having in their minds? Am I providing a solution with my words? Or am I just writing for the sake of it? Am I serving enough value in the two minutes that a reader spends on my blog?
It’s on you to decide how you choose to answer these questions for yourself. People around you are all looking for answers in their lives, some on social media and others on google. Much easier, you can have a look at your blog comments and reader emails to find a whole lot of questions that you can answer. Look for what they are discussing and searching for on the internet and capitalize the opportunity to answer those questions before your competitors do.
4. Write what you know best – I have always been in awe of bloggers who blog about organization and lifestyle. I love how they organize their homes and come up with such amazing and insightful content. To be precise, I love being a reader to their blogs. But if asked about starting a lifestyle blog myself, I would fail. Drastically. Because that’s not something I know too much about. This brings me to the importance of writing only what you know best and what can be a solution for a lot of people out there. Moreover, writing about what you have a great knowledge of, will help you pump out better and high quality content. So the next time you feel short of ideas, just think of what you know best and you’ll never fall short of ideas.
5. Be a reader/learner yourself to find inspiration – The best way to find inspiration is to look within as you are your best audience. Head over to the blogs in your niche to find answers to your own questions. Look at how other bloggers are providing solutions, what’s actually working for them and think of your own unique ways to answer the same questions. But you should refrain from being a copycat and rather use your mind to establish your own authority by serving your thoughts differently.
With each passing day, I’m gradually learning to find inspiration in order to keep this blog updated and running as I know that this is something I can’t do without. So here’s what I have decided – I’ll keep a small blogging playbook handy and scribble down every piece of thought that happens to cross my mind during the day. I’ll then incorporate the collection of ideas and inspiration into my blog posts. Hope this works out and keeps me inspired for my upcoming blog posts!
