I think that among my friends I'm probably beginning to sound like a blog-a-holic. I can't help it - giving myself time each day to writing about the things that matter to me most and the potential for earning a living at it inspires me. In particular, it inspires me to pester my friends about starting their own blogs and putting themselves out there. While we wait for the "big" inspiration that will be our major contribution to the world, we can make a contribution here and now by sharing something genuine of ourselves with the other people out there surfing the web who are looking for people with whom to connect. The next major question after one decides "sure, I'll blog!" is "now what do I write about?". In this quick article, I'm going to share a tip with you that you can use when you're looking for something to write about that will inspire you to keep writing, and your readers to keep reading.
Your writing will flow the most easily when the subject about which you're writing has a high emotional value for you. It will also be the most engrossing for your readers, as they will resonate in sympathy with your emotional experience. There are a whole host of ways to get at those topics, but here are the two that I think will work most easily for you:
- Think back to a time when you were really happy. It can be relatively recent or in the distant past. Write about what was happening, how you felt, and how that moment has influenced the rest of your life. Perhaps you have noticed the "Best Days of Your Life" category here at NeilSattin.com? The articles that I have written in this category have come from a similar place within me - describing moments in my past that have made me feel overwhelmed with feeling, generally in a good way.
- Think back to a time when you were really miserable. For the best and most inspiring writing, you should choose something from your past, as opposed to something that you're currently experiencing (unless you really need some empathy now!). Write about what happened - write about how horrible it was. And then, because it was in the past, write about what you learned from having gone through that experience. What was the lesson that evolved out of your sadness, and how have you grown. Hopefully you have recovered from that miserable moment, the passing of time has healed you, and you're able to give your readers something positive to glean from the whole experience. If you don't like the optimist's approach, you can leave off the positive spin...that's just my own personal choice for how I deal with adversity (more on that in a later article, you can be sure). This article about putting together my soon-to-be-born son's changing table was written from this perspective (and since it was "recent" history, you can see how quick I am to put a positive spin on a trying situation).
When you write about these experiences, really try to get into the feelings that you had during those times. Let the re-experience of those feelings inspire your words. I guarantee that you'll have lots to write about - and that your readers will really cherish those posts.
Blogging tips abound on the internet, so do some googling as well. Interestingly, over at problogger they are having a contest where the entry requirement is that you write a blog post about "blogging tips" - which is really amusing in that it is, itself, a "tip": write about blogging tips! Thus this article was born. If you check out this link for the problogger blogging tips contest and search through the comments, you'll find all sorts of other links from bloggers who have put some of their words of wisdom out on the interwebs. I'm sure there's a lot of valuable info there for all of you to digest. And then, once you're through digesting - start writing!
