Last week I didn’t publish a single post. I told myself that because I was studying for my last final, I didn’t have the time to anyways, but that’s really not the truth. I had the time. Especially after I completed my finals on Friday morning, a day that I typically post.
Sometimes the will to write leaves you even if it’s your greatest joy. Sometimes the ideas that are usually flowing just stop. If you’re like me, this isn’t at all acceptable. Not one bit. If it’s within my power, I believe in blogging regularly. I think that a specific schedule is the best way to really sit down and get work done, even if it’s not your top priority. Schedules are not my greatest joy in life because I prefer to do what I want, when I want (who doesn’t?), but I’ve recently changed my posting schedule to Tuesdays and Fridays to keep myself in check.
That being said, I’ve still felt like I’ve been in a rut and haven’t had many ideas. I was cleaning out my work space the other day and found this whole stack of papers. Most of them were blog post ideas that I had forgotten to transcribe to my blogging notebook and that’s where the inspiration for this post came.
So without further ado. . .
1.) Think about what inspires you
Often, the easiest thing to write about is what is on your mind. What is currently fueling your passion? What are your interests? What’s been going on in your community that’s making you think? Why are you doing this? Sit down with a piece of paper and write down all of the little things. I often find that looking at these lists helps me to come up with post ideas based off of what I’ve been passionate about or interested in.
2.) Keep a blogging notebook
Okay, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I LOVE notebooks and my current blogging notebook is this shiny, rainbow print, spiral bound notebook that my Secret Santa from the #TBTBSanta event, the lovely Emma of Awkwordly Emma gave me for Christmas. I carry this around with me ALL the time and it holds all of my blogging ideas.
I like it because it’s small enough to fit in my bags without taking up too much room which means I can easily carry it with me to class or keep it in my suitcase when I travel.
If I have an idea for a post, Tweet, series, Instagram photo, or blog design thingy I should make, I put it in this notebook. When I’m lost for ideas, I read through the hundreds that I’ve put in this notebook. Over 50% are horrible ideas that I’d probably never use, but you never know what’s going to stand out to you in the future.
3.) Keep a pen and some paper with you
OKAY. So bringing a notebook doesn’t always work out. So no matter where I’m at, I like to keep a pen and some paper with me. Or at least a pen. I’m not going to lie and say I haven’t written ideas and to-do lists all over my hand before while I’m sitting in class. I’ve even used the Notes app on my phone before. I find it easier to spill out my ideas on paper, but in a pinch, the phone works too.
It’s all about finding what works best for you in your situation. The point is simply to have somewhere to put your ideas so that you can put them in your notebook later.
Other times the pen and paper are useful because I find myself most inspired to blog when I’m not at a computer. Figures, right? If I have a pen and paper with me, I’ll go ahead and start writing my post. All I have to do later is copy it into a post draft.
4.) Have a brainstorm day
So now that we’ve established that you need to have a list of ideas to draw from, you need to know how you’re going to get those ideas. Sure, you’ll get them randomly, but I personally find that I get a bunch of ideas all at once. Nowadays, I specifically set aside time for brainstorming. I find that this is a great exercise to do the day before I’m supposed to post (Mondays and Thursdays, currently).
I like to sit down either in the morning with a cup of coffee or right before I go to bed at night. I find that these are the two times I am most creative. Caffeine tends to boost my creativity and energy. At night, my inhibitions are lowered because I’m tired. This leads to ideas that I might not have had otherwise when I’m being a perfectionist in the middle of the day.
How much you brainstorm or for how long is up to you. Personally, I like to write at least half a page of ideas down.
5.) Blog more when you do feel like it.
Some days it just isn’t going to happen. Either I’m busy, not feeling it, or something throws my day off (like, whoops, it was my day off and I forgot to set my alarm). So when I am feeling the motivation and desire to blog, I sit down and I blog. This leaves me with posts that I can put up at any time.
6.) Post something different
More often than not, my lack of inspiration and desire to blog comes from the fact that I want to talk about something that doesn’t exactly fall into my blog’s niche. I have one thing to say to you:
Go for it.
There’s no shame in exploring a topic that you might want to blog about. After all, your blog is your space to write about the things you care about and show who you are. Perhaps it won’t be something you’re interested in, but it could be a chance to expand and evolve. Taking chances is the only way that you can improve.
7.) Guest posts/Blog Tours/Sponsored posts/Etc
This isn’t something that I personally do a lot of on Verbosity Reviews. Two years ago back when I tried to manage two blogs by myself, I used guest bloggers a LOT for my secondary site. While I advise you to be really careful about who you pick to write a guest blog for you or who you choose to sponsor, it can be a great way to keep your blog updated and full of new, fresh content while you wait for the ideas to come back.
What do you do to keep blogging when you’re in a rut? Let me know down in the comments below and I’ll pick some to add to the post! (with attribution, of course)