How Do You Turn a Spark of an Idea Into a Blog Post?
Recently, I wrote a series of articles offering tips and suggestions on a variety of research resources to help bloggers blog better. I’ve also written up many sources for blog content ideas.
In the early days of web publishing, the Slashdot Effect could bring a site to its knees, as Slashdot was a source for inspiration and news. This was replaced by the Digg Effect and Technorati Tag, as people turned to these sites for sources of information. For the past few years, many have relied upon their feeds, Techmeme, Wired, and now Twitter as resources for getting answers as well as finding blog story ideas. What’s next?
The evolution of how writers find subjects to write about moving towards today’s web writer and blogger has always been one of fascinations. Where do stories come from? Where and how do you do your research? So many years doing this from pen and paper to typewriter to computer to web, and the questions are the same.
Are you asked where your inspiration for blogging comes from? What do you tell your friends and family when they ask?
The spark of an idea can come from anywhere, but the follow through to finished article or blog post is a mystery to so many. Share with us how you turn that spark into a blog post, and where you find your story ideas online.
The author of Lorelle on WordPress and the fast-selling book, Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging, as well as several other blogs, Lorelle VanFossen has been blogging for over 15 years, covering blogging, WordPress, travel, nature and travel photography, web design, web theory and development extensively as web technologies developed.
Reader emails and comments really get ideas going for me and lead my blog in directions that I wouldn’t have otherwise discovered.
I write down absolutely *every thought* and idea, either in a notepad, or now more commonly, sending myself an email to Evernote.
I let the ideas just sit and ferment in there, and usually blog posts come out at a few months later once I’ve thought it through.