6 Creative Ways To Generate Awesome Blog Post Ideas

Yesterday, I concluded a short 2-part series on how to ignite your writing – taking a boring post topic and making it awesome. You can read Part 1 of Ignite Your Writing and Part 2 of Ignite Your Writing if you missed it.

But what if you’ve gone through the entire day and you’ve still got NOTHIN’?

What’s a blogger to do with major writer’s block?

Use these 6 handy and unusual ways to come up with some ideas.

Search Your House for Oddities.

We all have our quirks, so this shouldn’t be a hard exercise. Look in your pantry – any bizarre or weird food? How about the kids’ rooms? They always hide bizarre stuff in odd places. Check your makeup drawer – what cosmetics have you been holding onto for 6 years? Now you can’t just write, “Guess what? I found an old lipstick from my college years!” and have that be your post.

Maybe the makeup inspires a post about your addiction to chapstick. Maybe you realize that you’ve been buying the same box of cereal every week for the last two years and you can talk about why you’re stuck in a routine. You get the idea. Let the object inspire you, not limit you.

Stop Before You Tweet

Some of my very best blog posts have started out as tweets. Do you ever just have that moment of Twitter brilliance, where a really witty or profound 140 characters just comes trippingly off of your fingers? Before you waste that brilliant idea by puking it up into the Twitter abyss for its 3 seconds of fame, STOP. Think: Can this tweet form the basis of a blog post? How can I expand on this and make it come to life? Don’t be afraid to let that idea simmer for a few days until you’ve fleshed it out.

Stop Before You Comment

We’ve all been reading a great blog post by another blogger and found ourselves writing a 6 paragraph comment back.

Like with Twitter, STOP. If you’ve got that much to say about the topic, write your own post about it! Whether it’s a funny twist on the original author’s idea, an opposing stance, or just a different angle on the same discussion, you can utilize that blogger’s words for inspiration (I always like to credit them in my original post, even if my post barely relates).

Check Out My Idea Bank

Some of my newer readers may not realize that I have a GIANT repository of writing topics that are free for you to use. It’s called The Idea Bank, and it was a collaborative project between me and dozens of other bloggers about 18 months ago. There are more than 500 ideas in the bank, so whenever you’re feeling a little uninspired, check out the bank. You’re sure to come up with a bit of motivation.

Use Social Networks To Your Advantage.

It’s so easy to find cool stuff on Facebook or Pinterest. Let’s say somebody shares a hilarious video clip on your Facebook feed. Don’t just hit “like” and move on. Think about whether you can use the video in a blog post and add a funny story to it. Maybe you find a bunch of style images on Pinterest and can’t figure out why people love pajama jeans? Write about it. And if you want to find really weird stuff, visit StumbleUpon and do some random stumbling. You will get to explore material that you wouldn’t otherwise find in your blog reading and commenting.

Curate, curate, curate.

If you are simply devoid of any creative juices whatsoever, curate. Pick a topic, any topic, and put together a handful of other blog posts, images or stuff that you love. Valentine’s Day recipes? Collect a bunch of chocolaty yumminess and share your findings with the world. Find the best kiddie crafts you pinned to your Pinterest boards in the last week and package them up into a post. When done well, curation can be a really great service you provide to your readers. Aim to be as visual as possible and be selective!

That’s it! I hope these ideas help get your creative juices flowing when you’re in a draught! Do you have any other ways you use to stay inspired?

Tagged as: blog tips