What To Do When You Don’t Have Anything To Say

by Philip on March 31, 2007

Daily Blog Tips is running a community posting project about blogging mistakes.  I’ve decided to participate by writing this post on how I learned from my mistake of rushing posts when I didn’t have anything good to say because I was tired, not motivated or bloggerblocked.

I’ve alluded before that I think blogging is one of those things that require a lot of thought before you put the proverbial pen to the proverbial paper.  And, I’ve also posted about how to brainstorm when you are stuck.  But, what happens when you just can’t seem to focus with the task at hand–that is, write something insightful for your readers?

My suggestion would be to take some time out and read some material outside of your niche.  See if you can incorporate some connection between really diverse subjects and your niche.  Make it a game–go to the bookstore and randomly pick 10 diverse magazines off the magazine rack (e.g., flyfishing, hockey, stamp collecting, computers, trashy mag, politics, business, art design, photography, home decorating).

Go off the wall in your thinking on how you can connect the topic of a magazine with your niche.  Don’t leave the store until you’ve ticked off ten “connections.”  It’s not that hard when you think about the who-what-where-how-why things might be connected.  Focus on the target audience, the products (e.g., do they have similar manufacturing processes?), etc.

Whatever you do though, don’t post when you are not in the right frame of mind.  One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first began blogging was to rush a post that was half-baked because I was too tired, not motivated or just bloggerblocked.  When I did that, it showed.  My readers, I’m sure, would rather I had posted nothing than wasted their time with a half-baked post.  The result was a slow and gradual decline in readership–the single most important measure of a successful blog (in my opinion).

{ 40 trackbacks }

» Experiencing Writer’s Block? Digital Phocus: “Focused on the Business of the Web”
03.31.07 at 10:33 am
Blogging Mistakes: Final List
04.02.07 at 8:23 am
Finglish! » Blog Archive » 48 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid!
04.02.07 at 8:33 am
Blogging Mistakes, Part Deux | Middle Zone Musings
04.02.07 at 8:52 am
Bloggers Share Their Blogging Mistakes at Gauravonomics
04.02.07 at 8:55 am
Blogging Mistakes To Avoid
04.02.07 at 9:06 am
48 Fehler von Top-Bloggern, die jeder vermeiden sollte/48 mistakes from Top Bloggers everyone should avoid » ProBloggerWorld » Blog Archive
04.02.07 at 9:10 am
DailyBlogTips.com Project: 48 Experiences of Blogging Mistakes at Clever Dude
04.02.07 at 9:26 am
Blogging Mistakes–The Complete List | reading is my superpower
04.02.07 at 9:53 am
TechTraction » Blog Archive » Blogging Mistakes: 48 Personal Experiences
04.02.07 at 10:06 am
Blogging Mistakes Group Project Results
04.02.07 at 10:21 am
JDsBlog » Blog Archive » Blogging Mistakes
04.02.07 at 10:22 am
Customerservant.com » Blogging Mistakes Final List
04.02.07 at 10:40 am
RobertoAlamos.com - The place to learn how to make money online » Blog Archive » Blogging Mistakes Project: The definitive list
04.02.07 at 10:50 am
48 Blogging Mistakes : To Make Money Online
04.02.07 at 10:58 am
qarambol » What not to do with your blog
04.02.07 at 12:45 pm
Group Project: Blogging Mistakes Outcome
04.02.07 at 1:11 pm
48 Blogging Mistakes to learn from at Madhur Kapoor’s Blog
04.02.07 at 5:15 pm
Dfinitive Blog » Blog Archive » 32 Common Mistakes That Can Kill Your Blog
04.02.07 at 5:18 pm
ViralVoice.net | Find Marketing Answers Fast » Blog Archive 48 Great Blogging Tips »
04.02.07 at 6:08 pm
Bloggers Make Mistakes Too » Reader Appreciaton Project
04.02.07 at 6:33 pm
Blogging Mistakes | David Paul Robinson
04.02.07 at 6:59 pm
Blogging Together: Common Mistakes in the Blogosphere
04.02.07 at 7:12 pm
Blog Mistakes
04.02.07 at 9:38 pm
thepaperbull.com » improve your blog - learn from the errors of 48 others
04.03.07 at 2:43 am
WalletRehab - Ways to save money » Blog Archive » Blogging Mistakes! Don’t let this happen to you!
04.03.07 at 5:52 am
Blog N Tips » Blog Archive » Group Writing Projects Bring Links
04.03.07 at 7:17 am
48 Blogging Mistakes from the Blogosphere | www.mapelli.info
04.03.07 at 2:47 pm
48 Common blogging mistakes to avoid by reading these articles | Left Blank
04.04.07 at 6:44 am
Everyone Else’s Blogging Mistakes | Fighting to Stay Awake
04.04.07 at 5:36 pm
From One Blogger to Another - 48 Things To Do or Not To Do » Inspiration Bit
04.05.07 at 2:18 am
How To Avoid The 48 Worst Blogging Mistakes « Faithful Web
04.05.07 at 11:59 pm
Blogging Mistakes Project Roundup: A Checklist of Important Things to Avoid
04.08.07 at 5:48 pm
hamelife » The Great Big Blogging Mistake Blues Album - 25 Heart-Breaking Tracks
04.12.07 at 1:40 am
48 Common blogging mistakes to avoid by reading these articles | Puthut's Blog
04.16.07 at 10:03 am
DailyBlogTips.com Project: 48 Experiences of Blogging Mistakes at Clever Dude Personal Finance & Money
06.08.07 at 10:57 pm
  Avoid these Blogging mistakes by eTechBuzz.com
07.13.07 at 8:19 am
Blogging Mistakes: Final List » All Tips and Tricks
11.05.07 at 6:47 am
?客错误终?清? | 精??客
12.24.07 at 10:54 am
博客错误终极清单 - Arthur...
07.29.08 at 8:46 am

{ 12 comments }

1 Daniel 03.31.07 at 7:33 am

Nice one Philip. I guess another solution for this problem is to have a couple of emergerncy posts stored, so when you dont feel like writing you just pump one of them.

Thanks for participating!

2 Philip Liu 03.31.07 at 11:13 am

Daniel, I’m trying to do those emergency posts! I sure could have used them this week, I’ll say that! Working in finance in NYC has some pretty crazy hours. Thank you for the inspiration!

3 Tony 03.31.07 at 12:05 pm

Well the “emergency posts” could be filled up with guest blogger articles (which has its own benefits).

4 Philip Liu 03.31.07 at 9:30 pm

Tony, maybe some time down the road, guest bloggers would be an option! :cool:

5 Jeffrey Keefer 04.03.07 at 11:43 am

Philip, I really liked your suggestion about looking for things that do not seem related and then thinking creatively about how to relate them. ” Don’t leave the store until you’ve ticked off ten “connections.? It’s not that hard when you think about the who-what-where-how-why things might be connected.” This gets the creative juices flowing and will lead to more interesting posts (and perhaps even more interesting life?).

6 Andrea 04.03.07 at 11:53 am

I agree that you’re better to say nothing than to post something mediocre.

I’ve enjoyed reading your blog over the last few weeks and hope to see more helpful blog tips from you. Thanks!

7 Philip Liu 04.03.07 at 11:53 pm

Jeffrey, Andrea,

Thanks for the compliments!

8 Maki 04.08.07 at 4:32 pm

Good info, Philip.. when I’m out of inspiration.. I usually watch some great films or stumble around the various news aggregators. :)

9 Bozdemir 08.08.07 at 1:46 pm

Well, as you said you have to wait and decide before begining to write something…

10 future designs 09.13.07 at 11:19 am

you’re right, sometimes when I don’t know what to write, I won’t force my self to publish a post just because I want my reader to come back.

11 Bob 09.28.07 at 6:01 am

well we can always write timeless copies during good times and post during bad times

12 Abi 04.05.08 at 12:16 am

Its not fair to post something which can push your reader out of your blog so I don’t post when I am not ready to write!

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post: Great Blogging Posts Offer (Batch 1)

Next post: Are Blogging Tips Effective Across Cultures?