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

March 31st, 2007 · 51 Comments

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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).

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Tags: Blogging Basics · Community Participation Projects · How To Tips

51 responses so far ↓

1 Daniel // Mar 31, 2007 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 » Experiencing Writer’s Block? Digital Phocus: “Focused on the Business of the Web” // Mar 31, 2007 at 10:33 am

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3 Philip Liu // Mar 31, 2007 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!
4 Tony // Mar 31, 2007 at 12:05 pm

Well the “emergency posts” could be filled up with guest blogger articles (which has its own benefits).
5 Philip Liu // Mar 31, 2007 at 9:30 pm

Tony, maybe some time down the road, guest bloggers would be an option!
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32 Jeffrey Keefer // Apr 3, 2007 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?).
33 Andrea // Apr 3, 2007 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!
34 48 Blogging Mistakes from the Blogosphere | www.mapelli.info // Apr 3, 2007 at 2:47 pm

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35 Philip Liu // Apr 3, 2007 at 11:53 pm

Jeffrey, Andrea,

Thanks for the compliments!
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40 Maki // Apr 8, 2007 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.
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46 Bozdemir // Aug 8, 2007 at 1:46 pm

Well, as you said you have to wait and decide before begining to write something…
47 future designs // Sep 13, 2007 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.
48 Bob // Sep 28, 2007 at 6:01 am

well we can always write timeless copies during good times and post during bad times
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51 Abi // Apr 5, 2008 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!