It doesn’t matter if you are blogging a book, blogging about a book or just plain blogging on a particular topic, sometimes coming up with creative ideas day in and day out feels hard and boring. When you began your blog, you probably were full of ideas and felt excited and passionate about your subject or book and blogging in general. Over time, however, those feelings might have faded and blogging might now seem a tedious chore, especially if you publish posts more than twice a week. This can leave your writing dull, lifeless and stilted.
They key to successful long-term blogging becomes finding ways to boost your creativity on a regular basis. Here are 6 ways to infuse yourself with new creative energy whenever you need it.
- Renew your passion for your topic. Hopefully you chose your blog or blog-to-book topic carefully. If so, you began with a passion for it. If your lack passion now, take a day or two to immerse yourself in the topic once again. Go take a class or read a book on the subject. Find a friend who has the same interest and spend time with him. Learn something new that relates to what you write about. As you grow and learn, you’ll remember why you were so excited and passionate about your topic, and you’ll return to your blog with new energy and in new ways. You’ll want to share what you know once again, and you’ll have new stories to tell.
- Take a blogging break. Sometimes you simply need to get away from your blog for a while. This may mean first scheduling some posts so your blog doesn’t look like you’ve abandoned it. Once you’ve done that, take a vacation, sit on the beach or just do something else. But don’t blog or write for a while. We all need time off from our jobs to rest and rejuvenate. This can be just the trick to bring back your muse.
- Read other blogs on your topic. Peeking in on what other successful bloggers are doing can jog your creative juices. It gives you new ideas on how to do what they are doing in different ways. As long as you don’t plagiarize their work, nothing stops you from grabbing a few ideas, which cannot be copyrighted. (You can also go to the bookstore and look at other books.)
- Look outside your niche for ideas. Sometimes the most creative ideas come from parallels we make to topics outside our own subject area. Watch the news and see if you can’t your posts tie into breaking stories. Consider how you can write a blog post that relates your topic to a new study. Or watch what’s trending on Twitter or Google (sign up for Google Alerts) and write posts that relate your topic to these events. (This is also a great tactic for search engine optimization as well.)
- Move your body. When you feel creatively stifled, try going for a run or a walk, or go take an exercise class. You’d be amazed at what increasing the energy in your body does for your writing energy.
- Meditate. Take time for introspection or allow messages to come to you from a higher Source. This feeds your soul and your mind. You may get some amazing ideas while sitting quietly and just listening.
Do you have some other “blogging creativity fixes” to add to my list? If so, leave me a comment. If you need assistance getting inspired, sign up for a free 15-minute Inspired Results strategy session.
Image credit: lightwise / 123RF Stock Photo
Something that helps me is doing something with my hands that doesn’t require a lot of thought. I listen to some music or a podcast, and I let my mind wander. On a good day, I can come up with two or three good ideas, and I didn’t really even have to work very hard. It tends to come easier when I’m not really trying.
I agree! Doing something like gardening, showering, washing dishes, petting the cat…these all tend to stimulate ideas. Thanks so much for your comment, Kirra.