Blogging Blues

[KristineS]

I think almost everyone who writes a blog has a period where they don't really feel like writing or they're just not coming up with good ideas. What techniques have you found work best for getting you out of a slump?

[vangogh]

That always comes and goes. Sometimes I let myself take a break for a few days or a week. Sometimes I just write through it. I'm not sure I have any one solution for it. It's happened enough for me to know that it won't last.

Oddly enough some of the posts I felt I had to force when the words aren't flowing have turned out to be the ones my readers liked the most.

[KristineS]

Isn't that odd? I've had that happen too. A post I thought was average at best gets raves. Other posts I thought were really great don't attract any notice at all. Just goes to show we probably don't know our readers as well as we like to think we do.

[vangogh]

I see advice all the time saying if you're not sure about a post you shouldn't publish it. But sometimes we're not the best judge of our own work. I've written posts I knew were bad and those don't get published. But many times something I wasn't sure about ends up being liked much more than I would have thought.

Of course the reverse is also true. I've written a few posts I thought would do very well and barely anyone noticed.

[KristineS]

I think most writers are notoriously bad judges of their own work. In the end all you can do is write what works for you and hope it works for others as well.

[Harold Mansfield]

I get in slumps big time. I don't know how bloggers can keep up with more than 2 blogs on differing subject matters. I have 2 that are completely different and it can be a challenge.

Subscribing to news RSS's in your niche can be helpful. I usually skim through the headlines everyday, just to see if there is something there that is interesting or hasn't been saturated, and leave them in my inbox for a week just in case I need some inspiration on a day where I have nothing.

Google RSS is pretty good, I usually get 2 or 3 updates a day. Most go unused, but every now and then it will come in handy.

If you are writing current events or politics...CNN, FOX, and MSNBC do just fine.

Another great resource is magazines. You can find inspiration in print publications and many times the subject matter is not saturated online.

[vangogh]

I also have a list of topic ideas that I generating in brainstorming sessions. If I'm really stuck I can go through the list and pull something from there.

[KristineS]

I do the news thing too eborg9. Sometimes I'll see a topic which will give me an idea for a post. It doesn't always happen, but it does happen occasionally.

[Blessed]

Having specified topics for a few days of the week helps me - it gives me a way to focus on a topic and that helps me come up with something to say.

[KristineS]

I do that too, Blessed. It does help a lot, because I know I don't have to come up with a new idea every day.