Never Face Writers Block Again (and have Fresh Ideas Every Day)

Mar 2, 2010
18 Comments

This is a guest post from Ankesh Kothari.

Writers block is a common problem bloggers face. Getting new ideas everyday is not easy. Sure you can keep an “idea journal” to save half baked post ideas and develop these ideas to stay ahead of your publishing schedule. But after a certain point, jotting down fresh ideas in the idea journal becomes hard, too, and you feel like you’re constantly repeating yourself. And that is why, most blogs die before their 6 month anniversary. Their authors just run out of new things to say.

How To Have Fresh Ideas To Write On Every Day

To avoid writers block, we need to figure out how we can generate fresh new ideas to write on every day. Let’s deconstruct how people with one of the hardest jobs do it: the TV talk show hosts. Talk show hosts like Jon Stewart, Ellen DeGeneres, and David Letterman have to come up with new material everyday, too! How do they manage to come up with new content day after day, week after week, year after year? They use two tricks:

  • They have a team of writers working behind the scenes. Anywhere from 5-15 writers are working behind the scenes, researching new stories and writing new material for the daily shows. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart actually has 17 writers on board including Jon Stewart himself. Coming up with new content is easy when you have so many writers thinking together! No writers block here!
  • They follow themes and have recurring segments. Ellen DeGeneres starts by performing a monologue. Followed by dancing. Followed by playing a few games with the crowd. Followed by celebrity interviews. And ending with a musical performance. This theme is repeated in show after show. Coming up with new content when the theme is fixed is easier. David Letterman features recurring segments on his show like the Top 10 Lists, Viewer Mail, and Dumb Ads. These recurring segments allow him to repeat things a bit without boring the audience!

In other words, everything is planned in advance.

Use These 2 Tricks To Become A Better Blogger

Hire a secret team of writers for free

It’s probably not possible for you to hire a team of researchers and writers to come up with new content every day. But here is the thing: you don’t have to hire folks. You can pick up new ideas from a group of people for free!

  • Follow forums. By following 1-2 forums, you get way more than 15 writers to get ideas from. You potentially have 100s of people who will give you new ideas to write on every single day! Forums are the best way to get to know what the crowd is thinking. What problems they face. And what hot trends they intend to follow. Forums also help you promote your blog. And on top of that, forums are an excellent time saver. Because it takes very little time to edit your forum posts and answers and convert them into excellent blog posts!
  • Follow 7-10 blogs on the same topic. Instead of hiring a team of researchers, follow 7-10 not-so-famous but highly-opinionated bloggers from your industry. They will do the research for you and give you new fodder for new content every day!

Caution: Don’t aim to follow more than 7-10 bloggers though – or you’ll face a serious case of information overload. You don’t need to read more than 6-8 posts a day to get new ideas to write on.

Create fixed themes and recurring segments to nail writers block

Here are a few ideas for recurring segments that you can implement for your blog:

  • Q&A. Encourage readers to ask questions. And answer a few questions per week in a blog post.
  • Link Love. Write a post that shares some of the worthy articles and blog posts you’ve read that week.
  • Interviews. Interview an expert in your industry every week.
  • Book or Product Reviews. Write a review once a week. (This helps in earning affiliate revenue too!)
  • Open Discussion. Ask readers to share their experiences on a particular topic.

Action Summary:

  • Create a publishing schedule. Think of 2-3 recurring segments that you can implement. And note down the days when you will write on these recurring segments.
  • Start following 1-2 forums and 7-10 blogs. And use them as your secret stash of smart researchers.

Follow these steps and writers block will be thing of the past.

Ankesh Kothari is an entrepreneur based out of Mumbai, India and is working on an affiliate management software for blogs. If you’re interested in taking your blog to the next level, you should read his Advanced Internet Marketing Strategies blog.

  • The more you read and expand your resources grow more and more ideas. Do not forget the experience of a person can also be a source of inspiration in getting fresh ideas.
  • This is a very good idea love it! You could also listen to what other people say on twitter. Like follow heaps of random bloggers that are either new or not well distinguished and use their ideas to create new posts. So so evil. Mauhauhauhauhau
  • remarkablogger
    Better yet, create searches on specific words important to your niche and
    then pay attention to questions and problems people have.
  • True... Oh this is so evil!
  • I love the forum idea mostly because I've used it. It's amazing what people ask about in forums. It's information you're sure that someone, somewhere needs to know.

    I need to get better about doing product reviews more regularly. They're fun, and the chance to earn is a great benefit.

    My publishing schedule has been improving lately. It's hard sometimes, but very much worth the effort.
  • For me, the hidden treasure in this post is the idea about forums. These forums were always under my nose, I just needed to be told about it :)
    It made me realize that I need to visit more forums in order for me to get ideas I could write about.
  • Huh? You only subscribe to a max of 10 blogs?
  • Thanks Ari for asking.

    I subscribe to about 30-32 RSS feeds. I try to keep it in that range. And usually think of deleting a feed before adding a new one.

    However - a bunch of these RSS feeds are about different things. Sports. Local news. Dilbert. Google Alerts on keywords. Etc.

    I recommend to only subscribe to 7-10 bloggers who write about stuff you blog about too.
  • Hi Ankesh, sometimes I get writer's block also and I loved what mentioned here about having a supporting writer's group that contributes to ideas from forums and other blogs. It's how I already get some of my ideas and it's a great strategy for overcoming writer's block.
  • Michael, thanks for these valuable tips. It is amazing what inspiration comes from reading other peoples thoughts. The inspiration for either a full post, or a lead in, or a close etc often comes from learning from other people.
  • how do you find experts to interview every week?

    Maybe that's another topic for upcoming guest post... :)
  • Thanks for asking an excellent question Codrut.

    1. Look at authors. People who write books are often willing to be interviewed. Amazon search is your best friend to find folks to interview.

    2. The person you interview - always ask them to refer 2 other people to you.
  • Ankesh,

    Thanks for this helpful post. Coming up with ideas for blog posts is always a HUGE issue with my clients and I love the idea of a publishing schedule.

    I try to follow a schedule where I'm blogging at least 3 days a week then reading and commenting on other blogs on opposite days.

    One other thing I do is set up an "idea" folder in my in-box. Any time I opt-in to a site or subscribe to a feed via email, I create a rule in outlook that sends the emails automatically to idea folder. Anytime I'm stuck for content I browse my idea folder for inspiration.

    Bill
  • Thanks Bill for commenting :)

    Your point about scheduling is spot on.

    Sticking to a schedule is essential. I think without that one step, most bloggers will suffer with long bouts of no new posts on their blogs. So stick to your schedule. And write posts in advance of their scheduled due date.

    Do that and your blog will never feel ignored.
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