Even the best writers feel stuck and unable to come up with a new idea sometimes. However, while this is completely natural, many writers simply cannot afford to sit and wait for this period to pass. But what should they do in order to come up with new writing ideas quickly?
If you don’t know the answer, don’t worry – I’m here to help you, offering 7 amazing strategies that can help you generate some wonderful ideas in a short amount of time. These strategies can be used by anyone – if you’re a student, needing help with ideas for your research paper, a novelist, a professional blogger, etc., you will find something for yourself.
1. Narrow it down.
Sometimes, all it takes to come up with a nice writing idea is to narrow the whole topic down. For example, if you are writing about design, you could start with narrowing it down to one category – for example, graphic design. Graphic design has some subcategories too, so you can narrow it down to a logo design. Then it will be easier to come up with a proper idea: for example, you can write about choosing the right font for the logo, about types of logos, about best colors for a logo, and so on.
2. Brainstorm.
Okay, maybe you don’t have a clear idea in mind, but you still have some abstract ideas already. In this case, brainstorming could be a wonderful technique for you. All you have to do is sit down and write everything that comes to your mind on paper. After doing so, think of the ways to combine or expand the ideas you have in order to turn them into something whole and more complete.
3. Do mind mapping.
The mind mapping is a great tool for planning almost everything, starting with your blog posts and ending with your life goals. Basically, it starts with choosing the main word (for example, “marketing” or “social media”) and then choosing the words that relate to it in various ways.
Mind mapping tool is especially useful for people who find it easier to understand visual information. This tool allows you to build connections between words, to see new connections, and so, to come up with nice ideas.
4. React to your audience’s demands.
If you’ve been writing for a long time, you probably understand what is popular in your niche, as well as what topics and ideas haven’t been explored yet. Maybe it’s time for you to change this and become the first who’s going to explore them?
5. Use someone else’s ideas.
No, I’m not telling you to plagiarize. However, when you feel stuck, using someone else’s ideas as an inspiration could be a good thing. For example, you can find an amazing post written by a blogger who writes for different niche – and writes a similar post related to your niche. Or you can find a topic already explored by some blogger and try to come up with a way to explore it in your own way.
6. Write a how-to post.
When we try to come up with new ideas, we often forget about the most obvious things we could create – for example, a well-written how-to post for your blog. If you are experienced in something well enough, you can share your knowledge with the others, creating content that is valuable and unique at the same time. Such posts are usually very appreciated by the audience, so you should seize this opportunity.
7. Ask yourself questions.
This could help you expand your thinking and see the problem from a different point of view. For example, if you want to write about freelance but don’t have a certain idea in mind yet, you can try asking yourself questions about this topic that you would like to see answered – “How can I start a freelance career?”, “How much money can I earn on freelance?”, “Which freelance websites are the best?”, and so on. Maybe some of these questions will turn out to be the perfect idea for your next piece of writing.
So, now you know which techniques to use when you feel stuck and unable to produce any bright idea. However, there’s another tip that I would like to give you: when you start brainstorming and coming up with new ideas, seize this opportunity to the fullest. Don’t simply settle down with one idea – try to come up with some more for the future too.
For example, when I’m starting to run out of ideas, I start brainstorming and won’t settle with less than 50 more ideas for my blog. This allows me to work at more comfortable pace, knowing that I already have plenty of ideas ahead of me. This also allows me to worry less about these periods when I feel stuck – after all, I know that I have some ideas to back me up and help me get through such periods easier.
I hope that this article was helpful to you! Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in a comment section!
