writer's block Archives

Ever forget what you planned to blog about?

Here I sit, first thing in the morning, ready to start writing my daily blog. Yesterday, I had two great ideas for topics, but this morning, they completely escape me. Does this happen to you?

This isn’t the first time that I’ve drawn a blank on what I was thinking about the day prior.

Without having anything else to write about this morning…well, nothing top of mind…I thought I would examine my problem and discuss a solution.

This helps me think through the problem–I’ll call it Blog Brainstorming.

For some people, ideas come to them when they are in bed or in the shower. Not so true for me. I have about a 30-minute commute to and from work every day. It’s mostly one straight highway–IH 10 between San Antonio and Fair Oaks Ranch. That’s when the ideas tend to come to me; mostly when I’m driving home from work, because on the way in I tend to be thinking about the day ahead.

So yesterday, as I was driving home, I was thinking about “things” and one of them struck me as a potential blog topic. Every time I have these ideas, I tell myself not to forget the idea. Nine times out of ten! I do.

So, how to fix this?

As I was about three paragraphs into this blog, I remembered the topic that I was thinking about on the way home. I was thinking about writing about why you blog…exploring the reasons why people might write blogs. This idea came based off a discussion yesterday with a good friend of mine at work that is planning to start up her blog.

So, how do I capture that idea? Do I tell myself not to forget the idea, which I will probably do anyway? No, that doesn’t work.

I had considered going into my WordPress app and posting it as the title for a draft blog and then saving the draft. I have done that before, but that can have issues. One of those issues is that I just remembered the topic while I’m writing this blog and that would mean saving this draft blog, opening a new one, and then saving that draft. Those steps on the app are not that easy. Additionally, two things happen when you do that in WordPress. First, the blog takes on the date that you saved the draft. So, I have to remember to change the posting date or what will happen is it will look like I posted it earlier than I really did when I publish the blog. Second, the app doesn’t allow you to simply publish once you’ve saved it to draft. To actually publish blogs on the app, I have to do some things to get it to post.

All that said, I think my screen would be pretty cluttered with bunches of draft blog ideas mucking up the system. So, I am discarding that idea.

I could carry around a pen and paper everywhere I go. That way I could write down the blog ideas when they hit me. That sounds like a good idea, but then I would have to always have that notepad with me…in bed, near the shower, in the car, at work, out to dinner. You get the picture. No pad with me, no blog ideas written down.

So, that idea, however potential, probably wouldn’t work for me.

But then I think about what do I have with me pretty much all the time…the electronic leash. That’s right, I almost always have my cell phone with me. I don’t take it in the shower, but it’s in the bathroom when I’m taking a shower. I literally take the cell with me always. Also, Monday through Friday I blog on my iPad, not my iPhone, so it’s free to use and I don’t have to hop out of The WordPress app to save an idea. With any mobile phone, you have some Notes app and there are a ton of them I’m sure that you can download that might have better features. I use the notes apps for a few purposes already…mainly to put together my weekend to do list so I can check off things as I get them done.

As I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve not only added the first idea from yesterday that came back to me, but I have listed two other blog ideas. They are right there on my Notes app ready for use tomorrow and future days. So, I think I will try this idea capture tool for a bit and see how it works.

The phone is with me all the time. It has a simple way to capture ideas and save them. It is separate from my iPad, so I don’t have to switch apps and it won’t clutter my app screen. Sounds like a good idea.

What type of ideas do you use to capture those fleeting ideas for blogging?

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.