Hello. This is about being stuck.
I was going to update one of my blogs the other day and I realized that I had absolutely nothing to write about. Well, I suppose there’s always lots to write about but at that moment I was drawing a complete and utter blank. I had nothing.
That got me to thinking.. What do other bloggers do when they have nothing to blog about? How do you get past that initial “blank stare into the computer monitor” stage?
It took me some time, and a whole lot of thinking, before I realized that a while ago I had found that I already had a solution to this problem.
I like to write blogs that have to do with teaching someone how to do something. I like educating people on the stuff that I know. I find it much more valuable (especially in my industry) to give instructional information as opposed to just spewing my opinions on some related subjects. Although I find that a lot of people respect my opinion on some things, it’s just more fun when someone actually learns something from what you’re talking about.
I also like learning how to do things myself. I’m in a constant state of “gimme something new to learn today”. One of the great things about the Internet is that any information that you’re looking for is there right in front of you, or at least just a few clicks away. ANY information. I’m pretty good at absorbing information really quickly and the internet is ideal for someone that speed-reads like I do.
So.. anyways.. how do I think of something to write on my blog?
It has become apparent to me that the most thorough way to learn how to do something is to teach someone else how to do it. I know that sounds kinda backwards since technically you can’t teach something if you don’t know it yourself, but this is a different angle.
What I’m talking about is how I find something new to blog about..
I simply think of something that I want to learn how to do. Whatever it is, doesn’t matter at this point. Something that I don’t know how to do, but want to learn. Whether it’s how to use Twitter for marketing, or how to climb a tree, it’s something I need to know how to do.
After I’ve considered that for a while, the rest is research. I take my desire to learn something, then I take it to Google and compile enough information until I reckon I’ve got a little more than I need in order to learn it myself. Note: I don’t “copy” other people’s work, I just gather information.
So at this point I have a bunch of information. I don’t actually know what I’m doing as of yet but I think I have enough information to learn something. NOW here’s where the real learning actually comes into play. I now have to force myself to TEACH someone else how to do what I’m learning how to do. Teaching someone how to do it is how I learn how to do it. Trust me, it works.
It’s kinda like when you were back in high school and you had to make a presentation on some event of historical significance that you knew nothing about. Sure you could get all the information and make all the notes that you wanted, but you never actually knew what you were talking about until you had to explain and describe it to the class. Heck I still know a lot more about the Battle of Hastings in 1066 than I do of any other ‘battle’… because I had to do a presentation on it back in the 7th grade.
Ok, back to blogging..
Now since I’ve got all my information in place, all I have to do is explain it to someone else in the same way that I would like it explained to me. I teach myself by teaching others. See what I mean? Of course I use my own writing style, adding my own thoughts and opinions, and it comes out as a well-written instructional article… about something I didn’t know myself as of this morning.
So after reading what I just wrote it kinda sounds like a long drawn-out process that takes hours and hours and really sounds pretty boring. Don’t take it that way. This is just a process that I use in order to find something interesting (to me) to blog about. It does not have to take a lot of time or, honestly, a lot of effort. And if it’s something you want to learn, it won’t be boring.. right?
So if you ever find yourself at a loss when thinking of something to blog about, try what I do… you might just learn something;)
Well..What do you think? Would this work for you? What do YOU do in this situation??
Let us know in the comments below..
– Geoff.