How to Keep Your Blogging Inspiration Flowing

As bloggers, sometimes we’re overflowing with creativity. But other times? Well, not so much. I go back and forth between being super excited about blogging … and just wanting to throw the towel in on the whole thing.

But you know what? My mama didn’t raise no quitter … and neither did she raise someone who doesn’t milk every opportunity for a blog post for what it’s worth. (Actually, I think I came up with the latter by myself, but whatevs.)

I’m currently going through a period of blogger depression. But instead of letting it get to me, I’m writing this blog post!* Without further ado, here are my tips for blog-inspiration-flowing-ness!

*The fact that I’m currently uninspired might make me unqualified for the topic, but let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about HOW AMAZING I AM. #amazingkell

Keep a list of potential blog post ideas

If you’re like me, you have on and off spells of inspiration. The well overfloweth … or it’s dry as a bone.

Well, save some of the water – er, ideas – for later! Write them down as soon as you have them (because you will not remember). Google Docs is great for me, but some keep journals or such. Whatever works best for you!

It doesn’t have to be a perfectly developed idea. Some of mine are as simple as “why outlining” (something I know enough about to write a blog post on). Later you can develop them into a full post.

Read Other Blogs on Your Topic

Other bloggers who blog on the same topic or topics as you do can be a great source of inspiration. It lets you know what’s popular, what others do … and other bloggers are super encouraging – trust me!

However, for this tip, there is a major DON’T. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! There is a difference between being inspired by someone and stealing their ideas and articles.

Have a Schedule

I have a weekly schedule (posts on Wednesday and Saturday) as well as a monthly schedule. Both help me keep going and give me ideas for posting.

I bet you didn’t know about the monthly schedule! That’s because I leave it behind so often – never stick to a schedule if it’s going to keep you from getting things done. But I do try to follow it loosely.

Basically, the monthly schedule gives me idea of what topic I will post on any given day of the month (by week) to give myself a nice balance of post topics. (Can you tell how little I use it?)

A couple weeks’ worth of my monthly schedule might look something like this:

• [Month] 2018 Dares (Sat)
• An About-Writing Post (Wed)
• A Writing/Life Spotlight Post (Sat)
• Christianity/Thoughtful Post (Wed)

I actually did something kind of close to this! I skipped the fourth Wednesday due to being in California (I’ll be talking about that in the next post, hopefully), but other than that … pretty dang close, if you ask me!

I admit I had no clue what to do on the first Wednesday of this month. I was scrounging for ideas. But between having a list of ideas for about-writing posts and knowing that an about-writing post would fit in well, I was easily able to figure it out!

Have a Plan

Yes, a plan is different than a schedule. I mean, I don’t know how different it is by definition, but what I’m talking about is different. That’s what matters. 😉

Schedule for Blogging

weekly (and monthly) days on which I must post, sometimes certain topics

Plan for Blogging

knowing exactly what you’re going to post

For instance, my schedule says I will publish a fun post Saturday. My plan says that I will publish a post about my trip to California last week.

Make Yourself Do It

Sometimes when you don’t have an idea … you have to blog anyway.

Some of my favorite blog posts have come from sitting down, clicking “create new post,” and just writing until something comes up.

It may take longer when you have no idea what the post will be until you write some, but it works. I remember my post Writing About Children came about that way. Plot Bunny Into Story? was similar.

I started by just rambling about something that is important to me (children) or something that was happening in my life (developing plot bunnies).

Ramble until you’re a genius. It works. Trust me.

Use Social Media

Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads … all of these sites are great places to get inspiration for a blog post!

With Pinterest, you can either scroll through your feed or your boards or you can search specific topics.

With Twitter, chase hashtags! And be sure to follow lots of people who blog in your topic AND people who read blogs in your topic.

I admit I don’t know how one would use Facebook for this, but where there’s a will there’s a way. 😉

For Goodreads, this is basically only if you’re blogging about reading or writing. But for those two subjects, there’s a wealth of inspiration – just by scrolling through your updates!

There are other social media sites which could be just as useful. Instagram I only recently started using, but a site full of photos? I can only imagine!

BUT REMEMBER … don’t let yourself just waste time there! Be actively looking for an idea. When you get it, GET OFF THE SITE.

You can waste time of social media some other day. Today, you are a blogger!

Looking Deep Inside Yourself

Not inside your heart – inside your blog! 😛

Remember that post you wrote last year? It really looks terrible now and half of the information is no longer accurate. Could you rewrite it and post it now?

What have people said in the comments? Is there any question people have asked you which could be turned into a full-length blog post? What do their responses say about what they enjoy seeing your blog about?

Have you written a post with multiple points (such as this one)? Can you expand on each other those points in another blog post?

There are limitless options.

Resources

• Why Writers Should Be Bloggers
• A Quick Guide to Commenting Etiquette
• How to Beat Blogger’s Block with Endless Blog Post Ideas, post by Elna Cain of Blogging Wizard
• 30 Blogging Tactics to Stay Motivated by Heidi Cohen

Thank you so much for reading my post! I hope you enjoyed it … I certainly enjoyed writing it. See ya in the comment section!

TTFN,

~Kellyn Roth~

p.s.

Do you struggle with “blogger’s block” from time to time? How do you cope? Have you ever tried any of these methods – and have they succeeded? Do you see my pretty graphics which I actually bothered to look up font matches for? #soproud