How To Discover Remarkable Blog Ideas

in #education7 years ago

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All of us from time to time will run into the issue of finding a topic to write about within our niche. Sometimes we come against a wall and discover our minds blank and void of any ideas. Over the past 15 years, I hit this proverbial wall many times and sometimes it made me miss my deadline (when I had one set).

But through time I found ways to help me have a steady stream of content to write about on each scheduled day, no matter the niche I was in at the time. Technology is a tad bit easier until you get into the sub-niches like myself and my love for Linux.

No matter the niche I found ways that help me have a topic at hand. So when the time comes to sit down and write, that is all I have to do. I advise keeping a journal, so you have a single place to hold all the ideas as they come to you.

Journaling is one of the best practices to get into as it helps us organize our thoughts, keep track of progress, and list out our daily events. The system that I use is the topical journal, where I have individual sections for specific topics, mixed with a bullet journal.

Read more about journaling in my post titled, "Using Journals To Improve Our Blog"

4 Ways To Always Have Content

Brainstorm

The good old-fashioned brainstorming method is always the go-to when we find time to sit down and focus. The key to making the most of this time is to spill any and everything on the page. There are no wrong ideas, even if you do not like one or it does not fit your niche still write it down.

The first bunch of ideas will not be top notch, but that is the point. The more you spill those ideas onto the page, the better your chances of having an epic thought flow from your brain. Also, do not overthink about what you write. It's best to get the sensation that the words flow from your mind to your page in one swift motion.

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Getting Into The Brainstorming Flow:

  1. Find Boredom
    Let your mind go and forget anything you think you have to do. Being bored will allow you to get silly and creative and it is in that state that you can come up with some unique ideas. Some of the ideas could put you at the forefront of your niche.

  2. Be Alone
    Don't let people distract you if you have time in the morning when you are alone using it! What about the evening? If you are the last one to go to bed that may be the best time for you to kickstart your brainstorming list.

  3. Stimulate (or don't)
    If you are an early morning brainstorm-er than a cup of coffee or tea may help you get the gears moving. Coffee does not work for everyone though, and you may find that being a bit groggy while brainstorming gives you ideas that are much more unique.

  4. Draw It Out
    A visual person should draw out their ideas in a mind map or something similar. What the mind map allows you to do is see your thought progression. Start with your niche in the center of the page. Than stem off ideas as they come to mind. If a thought springs from another, then stem off that idea to add a sub-idea.

  5. Take a break
    When all else fails just walk away, there is no use is forcing creativity because that does not have creativity works. It's better to get up and leave it to sit for a while. The time away could be as little as five minutes or as long as several hours. But make sure you have a pen handy to write any ideas that come to mind while on your break.

Use Everyday Life

As a spin-off or the fifth way to brainstorm, we can use everyday life to find ideas. As we just said it is good to have a pen and pad with you when taking a break. But this also goes for everyday life. Why miss that great idea because we could not write it down right as the inspiration hit?

As a journal-er, I am partial to a good pen and paper, but this may also work with your mobile device. If you do not have your notebook with you when an idea hits, use a portable note-taking app to record the thought. Then rerecord the concept into your journal or diary. This way all your great ideas (and terrible ideas) are it one place.

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Poll Your Readers

It is always a good idea to ask what your readers would like to hear about. They read your content for a reason so why not let them contribute? As I do at the end of many of my posts, I ask that the reader comment any topics that they would like my point of view on.

Polling the readers helped me many times when I was in a pinch for a topic to write about. As always, you should record the ideas from your readers into a notebook. But make sure to write the username along with topic so you can thank them with a short shout-out in your post.

Re-Vamp Old Content

Reusing old content is a bit of a touchy subject, so I made sure to call it "re-vamp" and not "re-use." Your old content may have some great ideas sitting on them that you can use in future posts. Read over the ones that did not receive a lot of engagement and think about how you can rewrite to make it better.

Never merely copy and paste the content just because you feel it did not get the rewards it deserved. Take the material, make notes on what you said, and rewrite it as a fresh new post. There is no problem having a post on the same topic as you did months ago but make sure it is a clean and updated look at the same ideas.

Thanks For Reading!

If you have any topics that you would like me to cover pleas feel free to comment them below and I'll add them all to my list!

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Thanks for the tips! I am definitely saving them to my blogging tips in my OneNote, that I also use as a journal for the topics I want to write about. what I love about Steemit is that it can really help us become better writers for our Blog!

Really helpful. Thanks! Your idea about polling the audience made me think about broadness of subject matter for an account. Do you get the impression that people tend to want only one or two topics when checking out content from someone they follow, or is it just as safe/reliable to write about nearly anything on a post to post basis?

You should have a set niche or niches for sure. You will confuse your followers otherwise. Check out my post on the subject for more information.

https://steemit.com/education/@jrswab/easily-unlock-the-greatest-niche-designed-for-you

Journaling is indeed the most powerful way to generate and store ideas for blogging. Personally, I jot concise, lucid ideas down into my iPhone notes and then depending on my mood at the time of writing, pick one and run with it in a stream of consciousness fashion.

great reminders - drawing & being bored always seem to work for me. kind of like a stream of consciousness word association doodle. if i'm unsure on any ideas, i'll walk away and come back to them later - fresh eyes also seem to provide flashes of inspiration!

I am new here but I have written a lot on topic on Facebook. Yes, it is a big problem to find a suitable topic for writing. I have faced this problem many times. Many a times ideas struck in my mind when I go for sleep. Sleeping alone in a dark room generates a lot of ideas in mind but I become too lazy to get up and think that I'll write on this matter when I will get up. But when I get up, I forget everything about the things which had occurred in my mind. It is very funny. I think it is a part of my life to commit silly mistakes. Everything you wrote in this blog is very effective to for every writer to discover good ideas for writing. I think it is a great opportunity for me to interact with so many people all around the world and to be familiar with them. Kudos for you to write this remarkable blog. I hope one day I'll be able to write something remarkable on steemit.

Thanks for reading! You should keep a pen and pad next to your bed so you don't have to get up and can write down the idea to come back too.

Thank you very much for this valuable suggestion.

Hello jrswab! I have read your article about blog ideas and I find useful some of your suggestions how to boost the creativity. Sometimes a person thinks how one has to be rational and logical in writing, but you are right, that a writer can express those ideas which do not always seem, at first, to be very logical, but still can be enriching and creative and can be a basis for a good paper. Thanks for your post!

Be Alone
Don't let people distract you if you have time in the morning when you are alone using it! What about the evening? If you are the last one to go to bed that may be the best time for you to kickstart your brainstorming list.
Really impressive... and thanks
Upvote you

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Great post with well articulated tips, @jrswab! Thanks for sharing it. All the best

Good post

wow.very nice post

From experience, my most receptive blog posts have been about people, incidents and anecdotes from everyday life that people can resonate with.

Great! Thanks alot.

I joined Steemit this month and today I received my first pay out. It felt great, eventhough it was quite small.

I have had troubles in the past with getting ideas for other stuff unrelated to Steemit and I tried brainstorming and journaling. It helped a great deal and I stamp my approval as someone who has seen its benefits. It works like magic ( I know it sounds like a cliché).

Thanks for sharing and helping new folks like myself settle in.

I would love it if you could check out my posts especially https://steemit.com/blog/@alilansah/00-weekly-blog-series-a-typical-day-in-the-life-of , a blog series I'm starting.
I'd very much appreciate your inputs.

This is extremely helpful. Thank you. Resteemed .

Wow! This is very helpful. I am taking down notes and would try to apply these.

If you have time, I'm hoping you could check my blog too and tell me what you think about it.

Your inputs will be greatly appreciated.

https://steemit.com/dailyfoodphotography/@janicemars/brunch-and-bliss-at-half-saints

If you are an discord send me a message at jrswab#3134 and we can chat about your blog and do a little coaching.