Help! I've run out of things to write about!

I hear about this a lot- bloggers who have run out of ideas.

I can sympathize with you. A case of writer's block is frustrating, and often discouraging. But it can be overcome if you know where to find inspiration.

For those of you who have asked me for ideas (and of course, for those who haven't), here is a list that may help you out:

Check your blog's stats.

Are you keeping track of your stats? (Google Analytics is a good free stat service.) Observe which search terms your visitors have used to find your website. Do you see something you haven't written about yet?

Use Twitter to your advantage.

Do you Twitter? Befriend people involved in the same niche(s) you blog about. Pay attention to the conversations taking place. Is there anything worth writing about?

Answer reader questions.

Encourage your readers to ask questions, via a post, or provide your email address so they can send their questions to your inbox. Answer each one in a new post. This is a great way to build up your content.

Do reviews.

While I don't recommend doing this too often (unless your blog was specifically created for it), writing reviews is a great way to keep publishing on a regular basis, and perhaps earn a little extra cash in the process.

Interview people.

Is there someone involved in your chosen niche you'd like to interview? Find a way to get ahold of that person and ask if he or she would be interested in answering some questions. Not everyone is willing to do this, especially if you have a smaller blog, but many people are and it's worth a shot.

Of course, these are only a few ideas- there are plenty more out there; all you have to do is think creatively.

How do you come up with ideas for new blog posts?

Related articles:

• 7 Ways to Combat Writer's Block

Comments

[krissy knox]

Ideas come from everywhere.

I carry a pen and small notebook around with me, so that each time an idea pops into my mind, I write it down. If you do this, you may find you have more ideas for posts than you'll actually have room for.

Another way I come up with topics is to think of a broad one, then think of what other topics pertain to it. I think I have heard of this being called "mapping." You actually write your broad topic on a piece of paper and circle it. Then as you think of each one of your more defined topics that pertain to the broad topic, you list these more defined ones around the broader topic. You circle each of these topics, drawing a line from the broad topic to them. Then look at each of these more defined topics. What can you write about that will lead to each of these more defined topics? Keep adding to your "map." When you feel you've finished with you're map, take a look. You've got lots to write about! Now perhaps you will want to decide how you'll write your posts. In what order. Will each circled word represent one post? That's okay. Will another cluster be a post? Work it out till it makes sense, and you are writing about what you want. I would suggest you physically write down what you want the posts to be about, and the order you want them to be in, after doing this exercise. It should get you back to writing again.

krissy knox :)
my main blog: Sometimes I Think
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/iamkrissy

[Yan]

Hmmm, now I know how TSB got your review here. I just recall I came to your blog a few months ago but somehow I lost it on my blogging radar. If it wasn't for checking the stats, I might not have visited it today. I'm glad I did.

Yan