Skribit Week (#4)

My good pal asked about getting over "blogger's block."

I know a lot of you are thinking,

"Why ask Todd? He never has blogger's block. The dude blogs 16 times a day."

Well, that's not true. I do get blogger's block. A lot. But I do it anyway.

Here are a couple of ways to get over blogger's block...these work great for me.

#1. The Regular Post
I know folks who don't dig this, but one of the best ways to get over blogger's block is to build in some regular, consistent posts. For my blog, "my Friday" would be one example. For about a year, I did worship confessionals on Mondays and Tavin Dillard videos on Tuesdays. Creating certain things that you're going to post on certain days is a really nice fallback. For example...I may not have anything to write in the middle of the week, but I know Friday's coming. That way, I'm gonna' be posting something soon. And after a few of those, if you're feeling creative and want to kill the regular posts, you can easily bring them back if a dry spell hits.
#2. What's Close
There's interesting stuff all around us. Some of us get into trouble when we start up a blog and write it under some sort of guideline. ("Oh, this is a spiritual blog." "This is my exercise blog." "This is a blog about my kids.") Taking a more open-minded approach to your site allows you to find interesting stuff everywhere. Blog about your kids, how much you love your truck, something cool at church or tell a story from your childhood. Look around...find something to write about. You'll feel good when you're done!
#3. Videos
YouTube, hulu.com, and tons of other sites allow bloggers to embed videos in their sites. If you got nothing, find some goofy video and post it. Chances are that everybody's already seen it, but hey, you're posting, right?
#4. Surveys
Rule Number One of blogging = people like to talk about themselves. They like to share their opinions. That's why I love surveys. The blatant way of using this is just throwing it out there. ("Hey, guys, best newscaster on the air right now?") Another cool thing to do is to form sort of question based on your blog. We've all done the whole "Thoughts?" thing, but if you can tailor a more specific question based on what you've written, you'll get more comments.
#5. Save It
Most blog programs let you save posts (and even schedule when they run!) On those days where you have a few ideas, don't post them all at once! Save them. If you can stretch them out to some sort of regular blogging schedule (daily, every other day, etc.) then you're good to go.
#6. Comment
When you get comments, get in there and talk back. Not only does it signify that you're reading them, following what's going on, but it can often inspire more blog ideas!

These are a few things I try to do to make sure I've got stuff to share. So far, so good. At last count, I was at 1526 posts! Sure, it's a lot of nonsense. But at least it's a lot!