Sunday, December 15, 2013

Searching For Ideas

I have a journal that I do a lot of writing related things in.  The biggest thing I put in it are the outlines for my novels.  However, I also put in blog ideas.  Every time I come up with a topic I think would be interesting to discuss, I grab my trusty notebook and jot it down.  I do this because I know if I just try to remember it for later, I'll forget.

Sometimes my ideas get low.  When that happens, I sit down with a glass of water and this journal, and I'll brainstorm so that I have several topics.  This way, I'm always a step ahead.

Unfortunately, I didn't do that this time.

I was on a business trip last week, so I didn't devote a lot of time to writing outside of an alternate history short story about the Trojans burning the Trojan Horse and winning their war with the Greeks.  That left me scrambling tonight as I wondered what to blog about.  To be honest, I forgot about blogging ideas until about two minutes prior to sitting down, so I had to search for what to write about.
(Any new ideas in there?)
Staring at a blank screen, it occurred to me that this was a topic in and of itself.  How many of you out there have hit this wall when trying to determine what to blog about?  For those that don't post on a regular schedule, it's probably not a big deal.  Such folks can wait until inspiration strikes them, but I've always said that consistency in your blog is important.  Aside from the fact that regular readers come to rely on its presence on schedule, it also keeps you writing and polishing your style.  Yes, I could hold off, and if things in my life were truly hectic, I'd do so, but being lazy doesn't count as a reasonable excuse.

It can be difficult to keep coming up with new ideas for blogs once you reach a certain number of posts.  Once I publish(likely in May 2016...once I've been back on the US mainland for about a year), I can post things about covers, sales, signings, etc.  However, until then, I have to maintain a broad array of topics, and it can be challenging.  Don't misunderstand me - I don't mean challenging from a whiny "this sucks" point of view, but rather from a "this helps keep me thinking" point of view.  It makes me stay on my toes so that I have to press forward.

Anybody else out there run into a wall on blog ideas?  If so, how do you solve it?

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