You've hit writers blog, or as I call it, bloggers block. It's the point in your blogging cycle that you get tired of the interwebs; tired of writing the same old junk over and over again; and, you feel like you've crawled to the end of the Internet and back, only to find zippo, nada, nothing to write about it.
Well, when you get to that point and you're about to smash your head off the wall, here are five quick things you can do to spark creativity and get your fingers dancing again.
RSS Goodness
If you're a blogger, you MUST use RSS feeds to feed your creativity. I break my feeds into subject matter, but I also prioritize them by ones I need to follow constantly; ones I need to follow frequently; ones I need to follow somewhat regularly; and finally, ones that can marinate for a while.
During bloggers block, I dig deep into that last bucket, pull out three random posts and do a blog review, story analysis or riff on something they have written.
Release the Hounds
Every needs to rant every once and a while. And there are always things bugging us — to what's happening in politics, sports, at home, etc. Whatever is bugging you, unleash 200 words of fury. It'll make you feel better.
Cruise Video World
You know how many videos there are online? Well, I don't either but if you cruise YouTube, Vimeo or Blip.tv long enough, you'll find some gems that you can embed into your blog, slap 100 words on it so the Google gods pick it and you're off to the races.
Interviews are F-ing Easy
One of the lay-ups any blogger can do is the interview. Slap five questions together — totally random ones — throw them out to Twitter and take five random responses for each question and try and meld them into one post. It's harder than you think, but it gets the creative juices flowing.
Do Exactly This
One of the last things I'll do when I'm stumped for content is write a tips post. We all have an expertise to share, whether it's photography, writing, creative design, cooking, smoke cigars, etc. Not matter what your hobby is, pound out a quick tips post for your readers.
A tips post is a good way to get your blogging block cracked...sort of what I did with this post.
What do you do to smash through bloggers block?
Article first published as Five Tips to Kill Bloggers Block on Technorati.