This is the 3rd in a series of articles about maintaining a column or a blog. Read the entries dated December 23 and 24.
How does one actually come up with ideas for an ongoing column or blog? Here are some of my recommendations:
Write About What You Know
What skills do you have? What are your interests and hobbies? What insights have you gained over the years? Presumably, your column or blog has a theme, so you’ll want to focus on what you know about your topic. Let’s say that your column relates to cats and that you have a Maine coon cat, a part Siamese and a tabby and you have traveled with the tabby several times. You can start out writing about your own cats, the breeds of cats that you know, how to handle the litter box situation with multiple cats, how to travel with cats and what denotes a tabby, for example.
Write About Things You Want to Know
A good way to learn about something is to write about it. As an example, I suffered a slight spell of heat fatigue once. Out of curiosity, I researched heat-related illnesses and then wrote a couple of articles on the topic.
Share Your Experiences
We once found ourselves taking care of an older horse. If I was writing a column or a blog on horses, at that time, I could have written about our trials with this aged equine.
Relate the Experiences of Others
Tap into the life adventures of family, friends and acquaintances. For your cat column, you might write about your neighbor’s experience with a cat that was poisoned by nibbling on a lily and how to prevent cat dangers around the home.
Look Everywhere For Article Ideas
While most people complain about standing in line or waiting for the doctor or dentist, I consider these opportunities. My long-distance grandparenting book resulted from a conversation I overheard while standing in line at the grocery store.
Stop, Look and Listen
Pay attention to the world around you. Notice what people are doing and listen to what they’re saying. Other people are excellent resources for a columnist or blogger.
Keep Up With the News
Your newspaper is brimming with column and blog ideas. Read it everyday from cover to cover.
Use the Internet
While surfing the web, you’ll come up with stories for your column or blog, experts you can interview and quote, and good ideas to write about within your theme. I particularly find other blogs and columns useful.
Write From the Heart
What are you passionate about? How would you like to make a difference? Being a columnist or a blogger provides the unique opportunity to teach, help, inform and share what’s in your heart. If you are an advocate for spay/neuter, caring for cat colonies, stricter regulations for cat breeders, etc., here’s your chance to share your thoughts and feelings about these issues.
As you can see, coming up with ideas for your column or blog site is as easy as paying attention to the world around you.
Who Are We?
To remind you: I’m Patricia Fry. I’ve been writing for publication for over 35 years, having contributed hundreds (maybe thousands) of articles to about 300 different national and regional magazines. I have 29 books to my credit (number 30 is in the works). My writing focus for the last ten years is writing and publishing. If you are a new or struggling author, you must read my 5-star book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html
I am the Executive Director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) and I’ve achieved my Advanced Toastmaster Silver. I work with other writers and authors—offering editing and coaching services for their publishing projects. Learn more about Patricia Fry here: http://www.matilijapress.com/consulting.html. Contact me at PLFfry620@yahoo.com.
Patricia Fry to Teach Two Online Courses
January 5, 2010, Successful Book Proposal Course. This course runs 8 weeks (or work through the course faster, if you like). Learn more about what to expect here:
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm
For $200 you get one-on-one guidance through the process of writing a complete book proposal during the 8 weeks, only.
On January 12, 2010, my online Book Promotion Workshop begins. This workshop runs $200 for 6 weeks. Learn more about what it involves at http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookpromotion
Let me know if you’re interested in my article-writing course, PLFry620@yahoo.com
SPAWN members get $25 off each course.
JOIN SPAWN NOW! Dues go up January 1, 2010. It’s $45 until then. http://www.spawn.org