What to do when you get Bloggers Cramp
image courtesy of fountainphoto.com
Every blogger gets it, indeed every writer gets it at some point. Writers/Bloggers cramp. (Can I coin the term ‘bloggers cramp’?)
I get it all the time. In fact it’s often the reason when Redswish hasn’t been updated for a week. Sometimes ideas run dry. For mainstream blogs that attract a lot of visitors, and especially blogs designed as a source of income – this can be crippling. So, there’s 2 main ways to avoid, or solve it.
1. Make the most of the times when the creative juice flows. Build a catalogue of drafts ready to be unleashed whenever you’re away, busy or just can’t think of anything to write about.
2. Get some god darn inspiration. Thanks to a handful of articles and tutorials out there on the net, there are plenty of methods of conjouring up ideas and copy. The most prominent article to have struck me recently is Darren Rowse’s post 24 things to do when stuck for a topic to blog about. Quite a handful of a title I know.
The article covers, well as the name suggests, 24 things to do when you have ‘bloggers cramp’. I would appreciate if you actually diverted from this site to read the article in full because not only is it full of useful tips, but the entire ProBlogger site is an invaluable resource.
However, some of the ideas it covers include:
- Change your writing environment
- Answer a question proposed to you through a comment, email or that you ask yourself
- Take a break
- Remove any distractions
- Revisit or expand on a previous post
- Try free writing or writing on paper first – about anything whatsoever
- Speak your post out loud, either to yourself or others. It may help to keep a narrative flow
- Change voices or styles
- Go searching for ideas online, or offline
- Ask your readers a question
- Do what I’m doing now and summarise other people’s work. Do not plagiarise but use it to build upon your own views and ideas.
One will often say ‘this only covers the basics’ or something similar. However, I feel Darren’s post pretty much covers all bases and is a fantastic reference for whenever you just can’t think of something to write.
I think it’s important to note that sometimes it’s better to post nothing at all than for the sake of it. When I cruise back through the past 6 months of posts on this blog, I realise how many useless, irrelevant and mildly annoying posts I’ve made, simply to fill a gap. Even though this is my blog and I can do what I want, visitors don’t want to read crap, they simply won’t come back.
Therefore it’s essential to keep your post styles, quality and if possible quantity as consistent as possible. Your readers will know what to expect and will stay interested.
If you’re lacking inspiration or any drafts to pull out when you need to get new posts up, try some of the techniques above. But if you’ve still got bloggers cramp, just leave it. Come back tomorrow.
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Matt said:
Definitely have been in this boat before. More often than not, that is for damn sure. Problogger is an amazing resource.
Nice post.
Calvin Gilbert said:
Great ideas, thank you!
redswish - a web design blog » 1 year down! said:
[...] What to do when you get Bloggers cramp [...]
EPC London Landlord said:
great ideas there.. will pass this onto my brother.