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How to Write When You Don’t Know What to Write About

Rob

Sometimes we sit down to begin our writing time and it happens, our minds go blank and we have no idea what to write about. We spend a vast majority of this time struggling over what it should be. We try several approaches to get the creative juices flowing, exercise, meditation, reading, napping but nothing seems to help. We expect to have this flash of insight, knowing exactly what the beautiful topic of the day may be. But the truth is, there will be no flash of insight.

 

The first thing to realize is that it happens this way. There are days when we don’t know what to write about, don’t stress over it. The more you stress over it, the more you won’t write because stress is counter productive to creating and writing. The only way to get the creative juices flowing is to be creative. As a writer, the way to do this is to write. Sure you could argue that you could do other creative things like brainstorming or painting but, writing will produce the fastest results for a writer who wants to write.

 

OK, so we should just write, but that doesn’t answer the question of what to write about. Here are a few suggestions on how to come up with something to write about.

 

  • Write nonsense – Start out by writing, “I don’t know what to write about.” and keep repeating the phrase  until something else comes to mind. You can also use any other nonsense phrase. The idea here is to just get writing, putting words on paper, then wait until the mind takes over.
  • Keep a list – Maintain a list of thoughts, subjects or ideas that you can turn to in a pinch. The problem is, when you get in the mood where you don’t know what to write about, none of these ideas may look appealing to you; choose one (or two or three) anyway and start writing.
  • Weird Basics – This one goes along with ‘write nonsense’. You start with the basics: A character in a situation who is faced with a decision, neither of which is good and is opposed by someone. Then you choose the most off the wall aspects to fill in the spots. How about your character is a purple cow? Who is opposed by a dandelion. By making it completely weird and impractical, you open up the creativity.

 

Those are just a few ways that you can start writing. There are many more and some of the ideas may work better for some than they do for others. The idea is to use whatever works for you and roll with it. The main thought behind these techniques is to just start writing and let your creative mind take over. Writing shouldn’t be a difficult or stressful process, we began writing out of enjoyment and fun. When it becomes too much of a struggle, it is no longer fun and we need to find that joy again.

 

So what do you think of these ideas?

What else would you suggest?

What have you tried before?

Burnt Out? Here’s 10 Ways to Rekindle the Flame

Rob

There are times when, no matter  what good intentions we had or how much enthusiasm we started out with, we get burnt out. It happens to the best of us, nothing really happens to cause it, we just wake up one day to find ourselves just going through the motions. At this point, we tend to just d enough to get by or keep afloat but not enough to be inspiring or motivated. So we could either let things just fizzle out and disappear or we can refuel and find new energy for our project that once held a special place in our heart. Here are 10 steps you can take to find your motivation again and add some fuel to the fire and reignite your passion.

 

  1. Find the Joy You Once Had – What attracted you to this field? What kind of joy did you find then? Rediscover that, look for those simple joys that you knew that which you fell in love with. Look for new things that are like those joys and try them out.
  2. Throw Yourself Back Into It – We get into a rut and we don’t work as hard. By throwing yourself back into it and becoming really active as opposed to just going through the basic motions adds energy to your project. By putting so much of yourself back into the project, you add excitement. It is kind of like going for a run to wake up.
  3. Study & Relearn Again – When you begin to go through the motions, you quit learning. You just do what you need to just to get by, thinking you know everything. But the truth is that your field is always growing and expanding and these days, that can be at an alarming rate. So while you’ve been going through the motions, everything has been changing around you. Take the time to begin learning again and discovering how things have changed and how you can use them and use it to inject life back into your project.
  4. Engage Your Audience – Nothing can motivate you more and faster than engaging your audience and getting them active in your project. This is one of the reasons that community is so important. Engaging your audience can get you excited and build a new passion for you because your audience will give you a new reason to serve them and a new focus.
  5. Ask Questions – You can use this in two ways. You can either ask questions of your audience, which is one way to engage them and can add new life and a new direction to your project. The other way to ask questions is to ask questions of yourself both about your direction and questions about your field, digging into it and discovering new aspects of it.
  6. Get Help or a Partner – Sometimes what we need is someone to help motivate us, someone with new ideas and a fresh perspective. Finding a partner to provide this can give you a reason to rediscover the fire you once had. Their new ideas and approaches will allow your mind to create new ideas of your own. With someone to help and work with, you will be more willing to try out the ideas that you have always wanted and simply put on the back burner for so many years.
  7. Mentor or Teach – Taking someone under your wing and teaching or mentoring them can motivate you to grow and get active again. Doing so is inspirational because you notice the enthusiasm they have which will bring back memories of your own enthusiasm. Besides you learn so much by teaching someone else, simple because of the questions that they tend to ask which you may not have an immediate answer for. Another, more selfish reason that this method may motivate you is simply because you want to impress them and show them how wonderful and smart you are.
  8. Try a Different Medium or Place – This one depends a lot upon what you currently do but, the idea is to do the opposite of what you always have. If you are a writer, try presenting your message through video. If you produce your message through a podcast, try speaking in front of a live audience. If you work from home, try going to work in an office. If you work in a cube farm, try working Location Independent.
  9. Have Fun – Enjoy yourself. That’s why you’re in this right? We get stuck in a rut and just go through the motions because we aren’t really having fun. By instilling some fun into the activities and into the project, we begin to find the joy in it again. You can create fun in so many ways, in how you approach your work, what you do each day, how you engage your audience. The bottom line is to have fun creating fun.
  10. Start Something New – CREATE! – This something new can be a new aspect of your current work, a new line of thought, or even a completely new project. Whatever it is, doesn’t matter, what matters is that you start something new. Build a new fire and begin tending it. Just because you’ve been working on this project, it doesn’t mean that you are saddled with it for the rest of your life. You are in charge, do what you want and create what you want.

BONUS!!

Become an Innovator – Develop something completely revolutionary and market it. Be the person in your field who is on the cutting edge, developing and creating those things that others only dream of. All it takes is a very good dose of imagination and dreaming. I suppose it does take a good bit of hard work also but, when you are motivated, it doesn’t even seem like work. By being an innovator, you can propel yourself further than ever before.

So how do you deal with burn out?

What do you think of these ideas to rekindle the fire?

What other ideas do you have to overcome burn out?