Anyone that has been writing for any amount of time has become familiar with writers block. Even the greatest writers in times past sometimes spent years in a creative slum, unable to find even the smallest spur of inspiration. Fortunately, we have so much information readily available that we are usually able to overcome this challenge rather quickly.
The Internet has proven to be the main source of inspiration for bloggers, as many of us spend our lives in front of the computer. With so many people staking claim in the blogosphere today, we find that much of the content out there has begun to be repeated over and over again, because many of us pull our ideas from the same group of places. The real art of writing is to create new, fresh material that has not been written before, or that adds new ideas to an already great article. This is the real challenge, anyone can rewrite what someone else has said, but to lead the pack in new thought will put you on a pedestal above the rest.
So how and where do you generate these fresh ideas? Writers are artists, and without your own creativity, I am sorry to say you will probably not go as far as you hoped. It would be virtually impossible to find a topic nobody has ever written about before, but if you take that topic and make it your own, you have done your part. For instance, lets say your surfing the web today and come across an outstanding article called “Is Facebook for Your Business?”.
Read the article and think of other ways you can use the idea, not the exact information, such as “Modeling Your Business Plan Around the Facebook Platform.”, and there you have created an entirely different article. Rather than helping someone determine whether or not their business will work with Facebook, you are now teaching them how to build a business plan that will work with Facebook. And keep in mind the first article would be a great primer for yours, so it is often a good idea to incorporate the link to that reference as an option for your readers.
Another example of recreating an idea would be finding an article like this, “Three Elements to Successful Keyword Research”.
Using this thought maybe you could write, “Why Researching Keywords is Important to You.”. Again you have built a new topic from an existing one, rather than teaching someone how to successfully research keywords, you are simply explaining to them why they should. The original article would be an excellent follow-up for yours, so at the end you can say now that you know why you should be using keyword research, check out this great article to learn how to do it successfully.
So where should you be looking for ideas? The best ideas often come from the strangest places. You should be open to ideas everywhere you go, if you are grocery shopping, using the restroom or walking your dog there are ideas around you. Lets say you write a blog about sports, take a chance and go to the game that weekend for inspiration. You should be able to walk away with tons of new articles if you have an open mind. Not only would you be able to write about the game itself, but what if at half-time you grab a hot-dog and ask the vendor, hey how many of these things do you sell a night?
That is an interesting fact that could be turned into a short story that would probably interest other sports fans, people like quirky facts. Now at the same time what if you find a couple die hard fans at the game and tell them about your blog and ask them a few quick questions, like an interview about what they expect from the team this season. Not only did you just advertise your business you also gained a new article and even better an interview, people love those.
However you find your ideas, keep them original and make them your own. Your readers will know your voice, and they will know a great read when they find it. Inspiration is everywhere, how you use it the challenge.
