Posts tagged blogger’s block

Blank Page Bingo Blogging

Blogging Meandering Genius

Do you have days where you stare at the blank blog page and simply have no idea as to what to write about that day?

The harder you think, the more menacing that blank page becomes. Just starring back at you laughing and mocking you.

Here’s a way to solve it…Blank Page Bingo.

It takes a little bit of preparation, but it’s worth it.

1. Build a six by six table and number the rows and columns 1 to 6.

2. Down the left side, next to the numbers, list six big things you normally like to blog about. For example, mine might be things like Strategy, Process Improvement, Employee Engagement, Blogging, Leadership, and Communication.

3. Across the top, above the numbers of each column, write done these words: Getting Started, Educational, Something Funny, Pro, Con, and Future.

Now, when you’re staring at that blank blog page, roll a six sided die twice. The first roll is your Blogging Interest (row) and your second roll is your Topic Generator (column).

In my example, let’s say I rolled a 1 and a 1 (snake eyes). Then I would talk about Strategy and Getting Started. So, what I could write about is getting started in strategic planning…how did I start…how could you get started. Now all kinds of ideas can flow from these two things–strategy and getting started.

If you write about more things than six in your blog, then create 11 rows and label them 2 to 12. Your first two rolls are added together for a 2 to 12 number. Need more Topic Generators…create 11 columns the same way.

I wouldn’t recommend that you use this generator every day you blog, just when you get stuck. If you roll your numbers and you still can’t think of an idea, then roll again…no biggie. You can also close your eyes and point, toss a coin onto your grid, literally however you would like to pick.

If you have ten rows and ten columns, you could use the month number and the last number in the day to do your picking, but that’s less random.

I think you get the concept.

Blank Page Bingo is nothing but a simple idea generator for you to come up with a quick blogging topic if you can’t think of something to write about. Anyone should be able to write about the things they know something about, once you have a direction.

Have fun with this tool and feel free to change it out if you use it a lot. Honestly, I was having a bit of blog block myself this morning and I was thinking about how to get over that while staring at the blank page and this idea popped in my head.

So, what I’m telling you, it was like I rolled a 4 for Blogging and a 2 for Educational. Additionally, I just made this up so it’s about as simple as that. Use it with caution, this method has been know to generate some pretty interesting blogs.

Have a great Friday!

Dealing with blogger’s block

Blogging Meandering Genius

If you plan to write regularly, even once in a while, you may run into writer’s block and not know what to write about for the day. In boll going, I call that blogger’s block.

Since I blog daily and six out of seven of my blogs each week aren’t planned, blogger’s block could be a real issue. When you are coming up with a new idea to write about every day, then this issue can hit you at any point.

If you are prone to blogger’s block, then here are some ideas on how to deal with it. As always I welcome your thoughts and inputs.

The first thing you can do is actually draft up a list of topics for a period of time…say a week. Let’s assume you blog daily…on Wednesday, sit down and write ideas for Monday through Sunday. Every week you are preparing what you’re going to write the following week. Having a list of blogging ideas and topics can help you generate your blog without thinking about it. My weekly blog, Think Big, Take Small Steps, is planned for several months out with an outline of different topics. I have the title and the subtitle, which provide me with enough information to write do each weekend.

Sometimes, writing needs to happen when you have time every day and when you won’t be bothered. I’m up early every morning–4:30 during the week–and I write my blogs over coffee while my wife and the dogs are still asleep. Having a similar time of the day to write when you’re blogging helps you think and possibly research topics.

If you tend to have a lot of time at only one time during the week, consider pre-writing several blogs when you have the time and prepping them to go out. Remember, it’s best not to blog more than once a day, but you can schedule blogs or have them ready in draft to send. This way you have a blog a day (or so), but you are only writing a few times a week.

Having trouble coming up with ideas? Here are some ideas that might help you generate ideas…I think it’s much easier to generate ideas when on the computer, but every day I write on my phone or tablet.

Have a set of topics or categories that you like to blog about and know something about. For me, I try to focus on blogging and writing itself, process improvement, employee engagement, change, human capital planning, strategy, and other things like that. Having a set of categories in my head helps to come up with ideas on the fly.

If you have an idea, put it in a google search engine and search for images related to that work or phrase that represents your idea. Add that picture to your blog and then center the message and your thoughts around the picture that represented the idea you started with.

I have four quotes and proverbs applications on my phone. In the morning, I like to read each one of them for the day. I haven’t written about anything I’ve read yet’ but the ideas get my mind moving so that I’m more stimulated to write. You could use these type of devices to generate your ideas.

There is a month each year where many bloggers participate in this A to Z blogging event. For 26 days, every day, but Sunday, they post a blog corresponding to the letter of the day. There is no reason what you couldn’t apply this technique to every month and make sure that the letter of the day ends up in your title each day.

As an active and longtime Toastmaster, we always researched the word of the day. Everyone was required to use the word of the day in there speaking to practice extemporaneous speech. You can get a word of the day from apps and from the computer and blog to that every day…or just the day you are trying to get over blogger’ block.

One of the last ideas, is to write about the very thing that your are fighting against–blogger’s block. Honestly, I wasn’t dealing with blogger’s block, but I was thinking about ways that I might deal with it and thought this would be a perfect blog to share and discuss. If you are suffering from a block, then talk about it…discuss why you think you are having a block. Maybe there’s a story in there after all and you just couldn’t see it.

That gets me to my last point…almost like I planned this blog ahead of time. Sometimes, it just helps to start typing and then the words start to flow. Except for my weekly strategy blog entry, I never know what I’m going to talk about day to day. Additionally, I never know what the blog looks like or how it’s organized. However, when I start writing that first paragraph…the one that everyone is going to see, I start thinking about the structure of the blog and the main points. Even with this blog, I put it together roughly as I started writing and formulated it’s I wrote. For me, this gets my mind moving in the morning.

Dealing with blogger’s block, is a personal thing, but there are many ways that you can prepare or deal with it on the fly. Who knows, maybe these tips will help you move from a weekly blogger to a daily blogger.

Looking to hear from you on the subject.