Sometimes I have a month is just one of those months where there simply doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day. You know when you’re not entirely sure what you did every day but somehow every last second was filled with some form of productivity. In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, I blinked, and another deadline snuck up on me. Blog time. As I wracked my brain for something inspiring or thought provoking, even just something of general interest to blog about, I was left wondering, how can I write a blog that doesn’t seem to be writing itself? This is what I have concluded.
1. Read a lot. Passing along existing information of interest is phenomenally easier than generating a new line of interesting thought. For example, this week I read “Google It“, “The Social Media Enquirer“, “Social Media is a Venue, Not a Strategy” , “Ron Johnson Bringing Apple Revival Experience to JC Penney”, and Seth Godin’s blog. I now have a full paragraph of interesting thoughts.
2. Get inspired. Recently I read “5 Quick Ways to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing”, and gave a few of these ideas a shot. I took a walk, updated my journal, did something different, took a media break, and cleaned my office space. It didn’t necessarily pry another paragraph out of me, but it provided a nice change of pace.
3. Just write. Sometimes the best way for something to write itself, is to just pick up a pen or scoot up to your keyboard. Start writing about whatever is running through your head, even if it is as simple as “I would really like a cheeseburger right now,” or “Somebody has been stealing my pens…” reading back through your ramblings and thoughts could help steer you back to a point of inspiration and provide a general direction. It’s surprising how many common or reoccurring themes you can detect in a puddle of thoughts. Then again, they are all your thoughts, and who is more qualified to evaluate and expand on your thoughts than you?
4. Go with it. If you are like me, you may feel that your writing is in a constant draft-state. I never feel like anything I write is ready for publishing. While I highly recommend a good dose of edits and proofs before making your thoughts public, be careful to not over-edit. Sometimes unrefined thoughts can be surprisingly inspiring. Be open to the possibility of your blog changing directions. If it evolves into something different than intended, that’s ok. Keep writing, and go with it.
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