Are you suffering with writer's block?

You read a lot of posts about finding inspiration for content for your blog. It is a fact that everyone struggles sometimes. I don’t believe that ANYONE is that exciting that they have a never ending fountain of useful information that needs to be shared with people. One thing is without a doubt, the best posts are the ones written with passion. Have you ever read a review of a product and you can tell that the writer really is not that impressed and they are just writing what they think the company wants them to write, or what they think the reader wants to read.   Why bother?

Not only is it dull for the reader it must be dull to write! I am sure you have all experienced that feeling when you find a topic that lights your fire and you literally can’t type quick enough because you feel if you don’t type it quickly you will forget all of your great points? On the other end of the scale when you are struggling to find a topic and you try to start to write your post and you just aren’t feeling it? I always find that if I am super enthusiastic about a post then I want to finish it all in one go, if I’m not feeling it I write a bit and leave it. In my drafts I have about 10 posts that I have started, but never finished. Sound similar?

So what to do?

• Read, Read, Read

There is nothing better than noising your way through other people’s blogs. I really struggle with time, finding the time to have a good read, but it is so easy now to access them you can have a quick glance in the morning as you’re waking up, in the bath, on the transport on your way home from work…there aren’t really any excuses. You will find certain blogs that just inspire you. If you have been reading my blog recently you will see that I have been taking a huge amount of inspiration from http://deliciouslyella.com/ a lady dedicated her life to clean eating. I have found a passion that I simply didn’t even know was there? Who knew how much I love cooking? Now I can’t get enough of these sites and every spare 5 minutes that I have I straight on looking for a new inspirational recipe of the day, or new ingredient that we fill me with energy that I have never ever heard of. Don’t worry if you think you’re copying, you’re not, “every poet is a thief” as they say. Generally, an inspiring post will get your juices flowing and you will simply take something from the post, not necessarily steal it.

• Re invent yourself

When we start our blog, do we really know what we are doing? We have an idea or a passion and think, "I can write about that", but I don't know about you, but the more I write and read other blogs, the more I find that my style has changed. I originally wanted to write about Fashion. My love for fashion hasn't changed, but I have found a love for so many other things that I want to talk about. This is reflected in the layout of my blog as well. I was made up with my originally design, but now it is starting to annoy me and I want to go for a totally different look. I am currently in the process of having my blog re designed by the lovely Chaitra. I am so excited at the prospect of having a whole new look. It's almost like having a new hair do, you want to buy clothes to go with your new look. Having a new look on your blog inspires you to want to write. I simply can't wait to show off my new design:-)

• Take a note book

I know that this has been said before, but it is vital. We find inspiration when we're not looking for it. It would be faux to take your laptop out an just start writing, about what? What we need is a journal of our thoughts, something we can reflect on and see what we thought about that day, what annoyed us, what made is joyful, maybe something that made us simply think about a topic that we have never really thought about before. If could be even as simple as something we saw or something we bought that day, but if you don't make notes you are likely to forget the important details that made you want to write about that subject in the first place.

• Take photos

An important part of being a blogger is the art of taking a good photo. It is something many bloggers start off by being a total novice and develop a real skill for photography. The only way you can capture a moment is by taking plenty of photos. It seems like a bit of a bind at first and quite often you will find yourself taking pictures of very random things, but the best pictures come from a moment. It is so easy to take and delete pictures nowadays, there really is no excuse. Just flicking through your pics at the end of the day will spark an idea for a great post.

• Take something from TED

Have you been on TED? It has a plethora (check me with the big words...) of great ideas. It is a site dedicated to people's opinions, thoughts, inspirations...what better to site to fill you with enthusiasm to write a great piece.

Well, I hope that you hope you feel inspired. I would love to hear your ideas of how to get over writer's block:-)