“O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,
Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse
Without all hope of day!”
-John Milton

To continue with this post about running out of blogging juice, today’s topic will tackle other ways of coming up with blog topic ideas and overcoming blogging eclipses.

This Tuesday, there will be a total lunar eclipse most visible in the North and South American continents. The eclipse would be the second one to occur as of this year. For bloggers, however, we all know eclipses in ideas occur every other day (sometimes even more). We have been talking about how we get new ideas in one writers’ community and I said that when thinking of what to write, I usually stare at the blank computer screen until blood starts running down my nostrils. One writer called it “nosebleed day”, which is very fitting, don’t you think?

Just earlier, I have read something similar. A freelance writer upon interview was asked how he starts writing his pieces. His answer was something akin to “I stare at the empty paper until beads of sweat appear on my forehead.” I’m sorry I have no idea who it was who had said that, but I’m happy I’m not the only one who bleeds when it’s time to put pen on paper (or in my case, type words on screen). Other than the usual types of posts (lists, reviews, etcetera; see How Not To Suck at Blogging: Part 1), here are some others types you could use for personal blogs.

1. A Picture Post

Words are good and unless you run a photo blog, most of your posts should be written words. There are times, however, when you need to break away from text and post pictures in your blog. I believe I have tried to employ this advice from the very start of this post. You would find that posting pictures provides relief from the onslaught of text in one page. The photo above was taken by yours truly but the eclipse photo was taken from a copyright free photo resource. If you don’t have a digital camera or if you just lack the knack for photography, you can always access these repositories. Some examples include Copyright Free Photos.com, Free Images, and stock.xchng among many others. Images in government web sites and wikipedia are also copyright-free.

2. A Poem

It’s true that not everybody can write engaging poems but at least anybody can try.

Here are a couple of simple types of poetry you can try:

a) Haiku

Haiku is a type of lyrical poetry originating from Japan. It uses a 5-7-5 syllabary configuration.

When mind is empty
The stomach should be kept full
Else: a maddened fool.
-Mariella

b) Free-verse poetry

No limits, no rules, no guidelines. All that matters is for you to be able to create a confection of words which is significantly different from prose.

You can also try writing sonnets, limericks, tanka, and other types of poetry you can think of. Try using an image that goes with your poetry to create an impact.

3. Using Bloggers’ Resources

There are many bloggers’ inspiration resources out there. It just takes a bit of time to dig and find something of value. I found Blog Inspiration after some searching. It’s a web site where bloggers could find an idea to post and allows you to post your own ideas as well. There’s nothing much there right now but there might be one to spark your imagination.

You could always use combinations of above elements. All it needs is a little creativity and the ability to think quickly. Good luck on coming up with those new blog posts!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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