“A daily blog? How in the world do you come up with something to write every single day?” People—even writers—often ask this question. The workshops audience I spoke to on Saturday, were curious about this, as well.
I think it is easier for those of us who do consulting, speaking and writing on our topics. Also, my background in article-writing for so many years and having to come up with so many different articles on such a variety of topics is useful in my ability to create new blog posts so regularly. I’m up to over 1,240 posts now on topics ranging from freelance writing, blogging and editing tips to publishing, book promotion and public speaking. I use this blog to announce new books, the start of an online course I’m teaching and my latest upcoming presentation. I post to share details of interesting encounters with clients or students or to share something of interest I learned at a conference or during a consultation.
Occasionally, I dig into my gigantic file of documents to locate articles on topics I think you would be interested in. I write tip sheets, share excerpts, post reviews of my recently published books and respond to questions and concerns I’ve received from other authors.
There are many things throughout your daily life that you can turn into a blog post. For me, it might be a comment from someone I meet in the post office that day. This encounter might result in a post about new shipping regulations or tips for packing books so they don’t skid around and get scratched while in transit. I might see something in one of the many newsletters I receive that sparks an idea for a blog—a question someone asks about whether it’s worth creating an ebook or not or an editorial related to an issue within the bookselling industry. I might read an article that prompts a blog post. No, I do not copy the article. In fact, I might have an opposing view and share that with my blog followers. I also get many of my ideas for blog posts while researching for the SPAWN Market Update which I compile each month.
Recently, one of my online course students was struggling with an aspect of the course. After helping her through the situation, I wrote a blog post about how to avoid this particular pitfall. And sure, I wake up in the middle of the night with ideas for posts—sometimes a whole week’s worth. I generate a lot of ideas while I am working on a book or a speech and I make note of them as they occur to me.
I generally have more blog ideas than I can manage. So I jot them on post-its for eventual reference.
I think that my ideas are more relevant for nonfiction authors. But I know fiction authors who carry on meaningful weekly blogs beautifully. You just need imagination, creativity and outside-the-box thinking. It might help you to jumpstart your imagination with regard to establishing and maintaining your active blog in the following ways:
• Visit websites and blog sites on topics related to the theme/topic of your book. Glean ideas from these sites.
• Use the Table of Contents—and even the Index—from your book to generate new ideas.
• Hang out at forums devoted to the theme/genre of your book.
• Once you get a list of topics for your blog, dissect each one and create many sub-topics.
It takes discipline and practice. But if you start now by using some of the methods I’ve described in this post, you’ll find that discovering and recognizing ideas for your blog will soon become second nature.
If you are planning a book or you have a book to promote, be sure to order my latest book: Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. http://amzn.to/oe56Ia