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One of the challenges I find on many A-Z participant blogs is bloggers' block--- after the burn-out of A-Z, many bloggers have found it difficult to get up and go again.
Here are a few ways to beat this:
1. Go blog-browsing: The more blogs you visit, whether via the Post A-Z Road Trip or otherwise, the more issues, problems, points of-view you'll come across. Some of them will trigger a response in you, and that could become your next blog post. Bonus: You'll have return-visits from the blogs you visited once your post is ready and published.
2. Dig up your old posts: That archive is good for something. You can re-post some of the posts you made long ago, which got you a good number of hits. Or, you could use them as an inspiration-- maybe you've learned more on the topic in the intervening period, or your point-of-view has changed. Bonus: When you link back to your own old posts, it helps search engines find you, giving you more hits.
3. Go wordless: A picture/ video really is worth a thousand words. You can also use them to jot down a few lines.
Bonus: If you add titles and links to your pictures, this too would get picked up in a search-engine crawl.
4. Avoid Whining: Sure, if you have a regular audience that loves you, you'll get a lot of mollycoddling when you make the occasional rant or whine. But tackling your block by repeatedly moaning about it would only turn off potential readers.
Bonus: When you avoid negatives, you make space for positives--- before you know it, you'll find your blogging vim back again.
5. Create Drafts: To quote yet another hackneyed proverb, prevention is better than cure. If you see an interesting picture, idea, issue--anything, in short, that could be of interest to your blog, copy it down in a blog draft. That way, when the lean times hit, you have a ready resource at hand to tide you over.
Bonus: When you have that many drafts sitting around, you might even be tempted to schedule posts in advance.
These are only a few tips to fight the dreaded block. I'm hoping the super-bloggers amongst you would add more advice in the comments. Now go beat that bloggers' block-- and get yourself a trigger finger instead!
24 comments:
No whining in blogging!
I carry index cards in my purse. When an idea strikes I write it down. You might thing you'll remember a fantastic idea that you had while out and about but, not so much. So...my tip is to always WRITE IT DOWN.
Wow, D., what great advice packed into little digestible chunks, all with a tiny bonus bite at the end. You go girl!
I do what the previous commenter does, only I have a little, tiny, pretty notebook that I carry. One in my purse and one in my everything basket that I carry from room to room when I'm going to be there a while. It's helped me tremendously when I'm stuck for an idea. I have a lot jotted down.
Another new method I'm trying is I made a schedule of what type of writing would be on each day. Mondays: more Swedish lessons, Wednesdays, I'm writing poetry (something I love but haven't done in a while) and then free-for-all Friday. Now that I'm back from my vacation, I have that structure waiting.
I agree with you that it's important to not let a slump keep you down, especially after the hard work of building up an audience in April!
Tina @ Life is Good
As I write a blog 24/6 I have to get ideas from all over. I even have a notebook by the side of the bed, I have been known to think of things in the middle of the night. When I am stuck I search the news reports, not for the headlines, but for quirky reports which I find interesting.
I made a note about re-posting some of the older/popular posts. Great idea - especially since I gained new followers from the A-Z Challenge. Thanks! :)
I sometimes go back to articles I've written previously and re-post them with slight adjustments.
Hi Damyanit .. I certainly don't suffer from writer's block - just time block .. otherwise you'd be swamped with posts. I don't post that often but try and make them interesting.
Also I hate negative blogs or posts - simply cannot deal with them .. so agree with the No Whining aspect ..
Cheers Hilary
These are such great tips...and all are doable. This I will definitely bookmark in my A to Z file...thanks!
The first and fifth tips for battling blogger's block are two that come in handy most often for me. One of the great things about this blog post is that there is a solution for everyone, no matter which blogging style they have. I especially like the part about avoiding negatives to make space for positives. That is something that I've been trying to apply to areas of my offline life. Also, the "Prevention is better than cure" has been one of my favorite proverbs for a long time.
Participating in challenges, blogfests, memes and other online group writing activities is one of the easiest ways to overcome blogger's block. I mean, you're already setup with a theme or topic (Like the Alphabet in the case of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, or Movies, in the case of my Monday Movie Meme) -- all you have to do is write about whatever that theme or topic is!
~Nicole
Blog: The Madlab Post
@MadlabPost on Twitter
No I still blog every day I find the trick is to write total rubbish, its easy.
Damn it I just proved it too..... Stupid QWERTY keyboard
great pointers!
Thanks for the great tips! I find going through old family photos often triggers a fun memory or topic.
The draft idea is great. Some I've had in there for months but ended up using anyway. :)
I love the idea of drafting new ideas. I may have to use that one.
I'm blogging though some followers may have a hard job getting through to me. For some reason my blog won't appear on Internet Explorer. I am now on Google Chrome.
Yvonne.
This helps a lot, thanks for the advice!
Omgosh...I feel normal now!
Hello.
These are some great tips which I will definitely use going forward. I've just started going through my archive & have already brought back to life a couple of posts that didn't get many comments the first time around. There's always room for improvement, especially on some of my older posts when I was a newbie blogger. There's no blogger block for me. I've got my own challenge going on & my Blog Hop Saturday! (you're welcome to join if you so choose), so no time for slackness. Great post! Thanks for sharing.
Thoughts Of Beauty In The Stillness Of Dawn...
I've used all of these and can attest to the value of what you suggest here. I've got so many blog drafts sitting in the hopper I could almost have the rest of the year lined up except I keep thinking of more new things.
Great post Damyanti.
Lee
A Faraway View
Thanks everyone, for your lovely comments. I'm glad you found the post useful.
I like Nicole's suggestion of beating blogger's block by joining contests and blogfests---the AZ removed the bloggers' block for a lot of us!
Thanks for these very useful tips!
Excellent tips. I hate whining, but you'd be surprised at how many blogs are successful with whiny posts. Misery loves company.
Precious Monsters
I always seem to forget that I can repost old posts ... Thanks for these tips :-)
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