Ideas for an idea-free day

Jun 10, 2013 | Better Blogging

“Writing is easy. All you have to do is put a sheet of paper into the typewriter and stare at it until blood flows from your forehead.”

I have no idea who said that. I’ve seen several versions of that line attributed to at least half a dozen different writers. It describes those days when you’ve got a blog post to write and the ideas just won’t come.

There are at least two ways to deal with that problem when it happens. But why not prepare in advance for the writer’s block you know will come?  Here’s how I do it.

I have a file that I call “Ideas for an Idea-Free Day.”  It’s a place I can look for half-done ideas just ready to be turned into compelling posts.

There are posts I started but didn’t finish.  The idea was good, but I couldn’t get it to work last time. A fresh look may fix that.

There are ideas I’ve worked up, but never turned into a post.  “Worked up” means that I made some notes on how to write up the idea or that I did some background research.

There are older pieces of writing that were created for something else. They might be longer articles, from which I can extract one key idea or example. Or they might be the radio commentaries I did for years that can be expanded into a blog post.

When you need the file, open it and browse.  Blog post ideas will jump out at you, ready and primed for writing.