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    31DBBB Day 11: Come Up With 10 Post Ideas

    justapenBy Updated:64 Comments4 Mins Read

    This is Day 11 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog, a group project 60+ of us bloggers are doing together in an effort to help each other become better bloggers.

    Today’s assignment is either really easy or really not depending on the kind of person you are, how long you’ve been writing/blogging/in ministry, and how many times you looked at the title of this post and said “is it really only day 11?!”

    For me, this is actually not nearly as difficult as it seems.  I’m sure there are plenty of bloggers out there, who looked at Darren’s advice to take the five most recent posts and come up with two new ideas from each who then turned around and say “but I can’t think of anything!”  And if not, good for you.  Go forth and blog!

    For those of you who have real problems with this assignment, I’ll bet your difficulties come under two categories.  The first one is “Well who wants to hear about that?” or some variation in which you disqualify the validity of your idea/writing.  The second is “no one is interested in that ANYMORE.”

    Well I’m going to share with you three of the benefits of being 25 besides being the last generation to really enjoy Saturday morning cartoons. (And yes, I’m really 25 years old).

    1. The world is simply waiting with bated breath to hear my next exhale of brilliance. Ok, maybe not quite that bad, but this kind of optimism and attitude that allows you to value your own writing and ideas.  If you value your ideas, other people are more likely to value them as well.  Don’t throw out an idea unless your reason is “well I don’t really want to write about that.”  That is the only acceptable excuse for the psychological trauma you’ll inflict on that poor idea.
    2. Everything is new and fresh. It doesn’t matter if you’ve heard it before; it doesn’t even matter if you’ve written about it before.  It’s still new and fresh.  It doesn’t matter if people are saying “that’s not culturally relevant,” or “post modernism can’t accept that” or whatever else it might be, if it’s important to you, it’s important to others and they won’t care if it isn’t the latest thing in Vogue magazine, they’ll still gravitate towards it.
    3. I have learned from watching too much TV. The power of advertising has completely brainwashed me so that slogans like “Trust your instincts, obey your thirst” and “Just do it” are now completely applicable to all areas of life including writing.  “Trust your instincts, write about what you yearn to write about, then do it.”

     

    Discussion

    1. What blocks you from coming up with ideas to write about, or from writing in general?
    2. What are some other ways to come up with ideas to write about?
    3. How much does self value impact the actual value of your content?
    4. (insert snarky, age-relevant discussion topic here)

    The Extra Mile

    A few other things you can do to take your blog, other bloggers, and this project even further today…

    • Reply & give other bloggers feedback on the little things they do.
    • When other bloggers include a link to a new article they’ve posted today, click, read, and comment on it.
    • Check previous posts in the series for new comments.
    • Tweet, share, & bookmark this post.
    • Beginning today we will review one 31DBBB participants blog each day.  So, please review Phillip Gibb’s blog Synaptic Light and give him some feedback.

    Seiji Yamashita writes the Ignition Point blog.  You can also follow him on twitter at @justapen.

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    I’ve been all over the place, and tried to learn a lot, but the only thing of which I am certain, is that I am the instrument, the pen, and not the Author. Everything I do or say, all my material comes from God…at least the good stuff. If it isn’t any good chances are I tried to come up with something on my own.

    View 64 Comments

    64 Comments

    2. Jon Reid on

      My challenge is not so much coming up with ideas — like Chad, they come to me in the course of my day. My problem is that when the idea hits me, I have a burning desire to write about it, but not the time. Then later when I review my notes for post ideas, I may have time, but the muse has left me.

      I'm sure this is not an uncommon problem for writers, and that it's about learning discipline. I'd love to hear how others get past this.

      Yesterday, I wrote two posts. The first sat as a sketchy draft for several days, but finally came out. It's Refocusing this blog, essentially talking about my new elevator pitch (and subsequent redesign) but without using those words.

      My second post came when I saw the news: R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio. When there is a "hot" item like a piece of news or a viral video, I am trying to write about it right away without putting it off, so that I can post it right away to ride the wave of interest. This also avoids the difficulty of having the muse leave me.

      • tijuanabecky on

        That was a cool post, fun to read, entertaining. Loved the word web I did something similar and like the idea about the companion book thing.

    5. William Dicks on

      I normally leave blogging until a subject hits my thoughts from things that I hear. It works well for those spur of the moment blog posts.

      However, it doesn't provide me with consistent blogging opportunities, so this lesson really applies to me.

      Sorry, have to go now! Must think of things to write! Ciao! Aufwiederzehn! Arrividerci! Goodbye! Totsiens!

      Gone thinking…

      • Stuart on

        I'm like this.

        I've also read the theory behind getting ideas many times before today and still I don't get the organised approach to blogging.

    6. @bibledude on

      This one can be a little tough sometimes. And to continue to practice previous advise (day 3 – promote a post), I wanted to share one of the things that I do to help generate ideas to blog about. earlier in this project I did a list post (day 2) showing how I like to use Google Trends to find things to talk about…
      http://bibledude.net/2010/05/5-current-google-tre…

    7. crispone on

      I know this, in the back of my mind, but I'm horrible at heeding this advice. I'm a worship (music) director for a church, and this is very much like songwriting. Once in a while, an idea, a seed of a song, will jump into my head, and a voice in my mind will scream at me: "Write this down!!" But then I'll argue with that voice. "There's no way I'll forget this; it's too good! Besides, I'm already in bed, so I"ll just go over it in my mind a few times and write it down in the morning." Inevitably, I'll wake up and the idea is gone forever.

      I've already had this same thing happen with my blog, and the advice in the very last paragraph of today's reading addresses this. Whenever you come up with a great idea – not just when you sit down to work on finding new ideas – write it down.

      Oh, and great post, by the way. Well done.

      • @bibledude on

        Wow… great point dude! The same thing happens to me with ideas. I'll need to try to be more diligent with writing those ideas down now too.

        Speaking of which, I just got an app on my Droid that allows me to put post-it notes on my desktop. And since my phone is easier to find sometimes than a pen, maybe I'll use that to capture those thoughts and put them in a place that I am easily reminded of them until I get the chance to do something with the idea.

      • Stuart on

        I get the ideas when in locations I can do nothing about them (shower, driving, etc) and then when I get out I've completely forgotten.

        Try writing that down! 🙂

        • crispone on

          Yes – exactly! Although…I guess I *could* get out of bed to write things down. I've heard of people keeping journals or notepads by their bed specifically for this purpose.

      • tijuanabecky on

        I find myself thinking similarly on some of these things. It seems almost anything I do or think about I think of how that could become a blog post. And the idea for writing down is great, gotta have a computer or pen and paper nearby.

    8. Chad Estes on

      I've started lists in the past for ideas; I even have a folder of pictures/illustrations that could serve as a jumping off point for a topic to write about. So far, I've never gone back to the list or the folder. I think the biggest reason is that my blog is about my journey and so I write about the things that have come up that day in conversation, memories, or happenings.

      However, I really do like the exercise of expanding what has already been done and asking more questions. Some of the topics I've written about could definitely be expanded.

      My post today is a good example. I wrote, "How to Develop a Good Youth Group" based on a conversation I had last week on someone else's blog. As I posted a comment to her question the article sort of just birthed itself. This weekend I took what I had written there and developed it for my own site. It will be interesting to see how people respond to it and to develop it further.

      Would love your comments as well:http://bit.ly/bnYgij

      • Stuart on

        That's my approacha s well Chad – ideas birthed from comments I've made elsewhere or something I see triggers a thought ….AND….I have the time to do something about it straight away.

        Otherwise it'll be forgotten or consigned to my bit bucket.

        Here's a thought – if time is short, then create a draft post with the heading and a brief idea on what you want to cover then return to it when time allows.

    9. crispone on

      I also just remembered something. If you're a visual person who likes to use diagrams, as today's assignment suggests, Google docs now supports drawings with all sorts of diagramming/flowchart graphics built in.

    10. speakinggrace on

      I had some help with this one. I found it better to brainstorm as a team and bounce ideas off of one another.

      Today, we have posted about ThePornEvent.com coming up May 23-28. It is a relevant topic today. They have a media kit on their website if it is something you are interested in blogging about. They want to get the word out!
      http://ronniespoon.blogspot.com/2010/05/lifechurc…

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