I’ve been sitting here for two weeks struggling to come up with an off-the-wall, unique topic for the blog that would be a hit with all audiences. I’ve written, re-written, and then thrown away about five separate blog posts because nothing ever connected with me like I thought it would when I originally sat out to write the post.
Then it hit me – this is my blog post.
The struggle to write unique, engaging content isn’t exclusive to me, and I have seen it in the faces of everyone I have desperately approached this week to ask about writing a blog post. You know the look, that “I’m-afraid-of-having-to-create-content-that-will-be-put-out-for-everyone-to-read” look.
So I’m going to outline some helpful tips that might aid you in your journey to find engaging content.
Just about everything is unoriginal. That’s OK.
There are very few truly unique-never-before-seen-or-heard ideas floating about and they are extremely hard to find. We become so surrounded by the ideas of others that even our “exclusive, one-of-a-kind” ideas are just a watered-down version of things we’ve already heard.
The unique ideas are the foundation for grandiose ideas, sure, but the derivative ideas are the building blocks that create all the rest of the idea.
Getting caught in the “I must write something that no one has ever written before!” is a pretty good way to never write anything ever again. It’s what I was stuck in, and it’s what I’m teaching myself to get out of now.
Stop waiting patiently for inspiration.
The great ideas are taken so you’re stuck waiting for inspiration to come and kick you from behind to make things happen, right?
Wrong.
This part of writing is what’s known as “work.”
You can only rely on natural gifts and inspiration for so long. Eventually, some mental elbow grease and really unsexy work must take place to make things happen. Waiting for inspiration to happen is just an excuse to avoid the unpleasant task of producing something when it doesn’t come to you naturally.
Do a little reading, you never know what inspiration might hit you.
Unique ideas aren’t going to show up each morning. You’ll have to work to get them.
The same idea, through your eyes, is not the same idea.
If you were to describe the color of the ocean to someone, your description would vary from mine in many, many aspects.
Similarly, two people can write a blog about the same idea without it being the same in slightest. Different conclusions, different opinions, different research and supporting facts, different paths for the same derivative ideas – same idea, but not the same idea.
One idea, approached from a different angle, has huge potential.
You can reuse old content and rethink it. There’s a very large possibility that your conclusion has changed, you’ll have new information to add and new references to draw from, and you’ll likely see weak spots in logic, structure, or assumptions in the post.
Writing for a blog, be it personal or professional, is a matter of consistent, hard work. It’s knowing how to get your gears turning, and how to help everyone else get theirs going, too. You examine your old work, you read to get new ideas, you make new connections to information, and you think about how you could potentially build on the idea.
You have all the ideas you’ll ever need. You just have to know you do.
