In the years of interacting with myriad bloggers, I’ve often heard the sad lament of a blogger who can’t figure out what to write about. This is a baffling condition to me. Why would you want to be a blogger unless you were just bursting with thoughts, ideas, and snippets of info that you are dying to share with the entire universe?
To me, it’s like someone who says, “I am an inventor!” and then wracks their brain about what they can invent. Or someone who claims to be a musician and then tries to figure out what instrument they will learn.
If you can’t think of anything to blog about, maybe you’re not really a blogger! Or, at very least, maybe you’re trying to write in an area where you have too little interest and/or too little expertise.
Still, I’ll admit that even great writers do get writer’s block on occasion. So if you’re a real blogger, but have found yourself in a temporary rut, I’ve compiled a few ideas to help you remember all the great posts that are waiting to come out.
Within your blog niche, consider:
Innovations in Technology or Methods
What are new ideas? What are people trying? What is working? What isn’t? If you’re an MMO blogger, you might discuss your perception of the newest social media venture. Maybe you’ll note the pitfalls of a once-popular method.
Humorous Anecdotes
There’s nothing like an inside joke to foster a feeling of community. If you’ve seen something funny that only those in your niche will understand, share the laughter with your readers. My husband is an electrical engineer, so one of our favorite jokes compares the various kinds of engineers (electrical, mechanical, civil, etc.) in a way that addresses the inherent rivalry. I’m a singer (and an alto) and a favorite pieces is called “Alto’s Lament.” It’s full of all sorts of references that only a singer (and only a fellow non-melody singer) will understand.
Problems — Resolved or Not
Discussing common frustrations or difficulties within your topic is an easy way to get started. If you don’t have a solution, point out the ways you’ve tried to address the issue and why they haven’t worked. Ask for collaboration. If you have solved the problem, share your solution clearly and explicitly.
Admired or Important People
Who are the movers and the shakers in your niche? What have they done and what are they doing now? What can you learn from them? Analyzing the successes of others can be an valuable source of inspiration. Perhaps their examples can be applied to your own life or work.
Emotional Experiences
What issues and circumstances in your niche make you happy? angry? worried? optimistic? Share your feelings about the things that are coming up with your site visitors. Chances are, they are shared.
Once you’ve identified one of these things in your niche, all you have to do is share it. If it’s interesting to you, it will probably be interesting to someone else.
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Twitter: bbrian017
Hi Alison this was a great write up. I’m finding myself with a lack of ideas lately for my nice and thank you for these great suggestions. Sometimes all it takes for me a few minutes surfing around blog engage to get inspired to write a new article. I actually tend to sue blog engage very often for fresh and new blogging ideas.
This article is really great for our community blog because I can imagine many bloggers experience this lack of creativity issues a lot.
Thanks,
Brian
.-= bbrian017´s last blog ..The sad truth about bloggers and blogging =-.
Twitter: AlisonMSmith
Thanks for the opportunity to guest post, Brian!
.-= Alison Moore Smith´s last blog ..31DBBB: Day #3 Promote a Blog Post =-.
I often times dont know what to blog about but I know I have to blog about something to keep traffic coming in. I get a lot of inspiration from news sources such as CNN, USA Today…ect. That ususally sparks my creative juices.
.-= Dennis´s last blog ..Industrial Divider Curtains =-.
Nice job, as always, Alison. Love your style.
Twitter: AlisonMSmith
Good ideas, Dennis.
Thanks, Kathy.
It’s your fault I’m blogging at all, you know. 
.-= Alison Moore Smith´s last blog ..Embrace Life =-.
Twitter: Ileane
Hi Alison, I agree with your opening point. I never run out of ideas but some topics I don’t feel I’m qualified or have the expertise to write about. The other problem for me is time management. I have 10 blog posts in my head right now, but finding the time to write them is my weakness. Thanks for the tips.
@Ileane
.-= Ileane @Blogging´s last blog ..How-to Blog Engage a WordPress.com Blog =-.
Twitter: jamesbrobinson
I have to agree wholeheartedly. There are so many ideas in my head, but I often haven’t yet thought of how I want to format that content. My content is often technology based and therefore, given the speed of that market, if I snooze, the moment passes.
I prefer to blog with balance. I want to be able to participate in communities like BlogEngage as well as blogging, but realise that I can’t do that as well as all my other life commitments and therefore I’ve just grown to accept that whilst I’d love for my site to grow in followers, I can’t get hung up on numbers if I can’t commit time to it.
.-= Rob´s last blog ..How to: Use Twitter to get better customer service =-.
Twitter: weblogbetter
Great post Alison – These are super suggestions for posts. I’ll have to bookmark this one to refer to whenever I’m at a loss. I have to say though, you’re right about questioning whether or not blogging is the right thing to do – I know people who blog who look at me like I’m crazy when I say, write something everyday. I think they want that one post a month to do all the work.
.-= Kiesha @ We Blog Better´s last blog ..5 Quirky methods I use to stay organized =-.
Twitter: AlisonMSmith
Thanks for your comments.
Ileane, I think time management is an eternal problem!
Kiesha, had a conversation today with someone who just created a blog. They said, “OK, now what should I write about?”
I thought, “Um, you got this all set up and you don’t have anything in mind?”
It’s like someone setting up a gig and then trying to figure out what instrument they are going to play. Blogging just isn’t for everyone!
Twitter: 3_quid
I think to those people who plans to become a blogger and don’t know what to blog about is I think they don’t the confidence in them.
I mean, they the have the topics to be covered, but they meet their difficulties upon organizing it in their post.
Especially for those blogger wanna be that ENGLISH is not their major language.
It took me sometime to learn how to organize my english writing skills and after I’ve overcome my weakness, I am now confident to face to crowded blogosphere.
Thank you for this post by the way.
.-= Real Blogging Advice´s last blog ..How to Make Money Online? =-.
Twitter: inzoneinternet
I write about my interests which is SEO, I’m still new though so any tips from the experts are welcome. lol
.-= Tini | Inzone Internet´s last blog ..Google Cancels Out Reciprocal Links =-.
Twitter: buyrightstocks
The problem is surely a great post idea for me. I often write a post about how I solve the problem in my blogging.
.-= Dana @ Blogging Tips Blog´s last blog ..Eight Free Software For Better Blogging Life =-.
Twitter: dragonblogger
Sometimes its easy writing on my personal blog as I just make stuff up to write about, my poetry and literature blog is even easier, just craft a new haiku or a short story blurb and I am done. Writing for DragonBlogger takes time as many of my posts are tutorials with screenshots or even video reviews which I am trying to do more of, so I have to be more careful on what I plan to write about and often rarely do posts (24 hours or same day) am always writing posts at least three to five days in advance.
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