It’s normal to sit down to write a blog and not know what you’re going to write about. It happens all the time to professional writers. Here’s what Aaron Sorkin had to say about his time writing the West Wing:
“You have to write next week’s script, and you don’t have any ideas, because if you did, they’d have been in last week’s episode.”
He then goes on to talk about looking for inspiration by driving around, listening to music, because that’s provided him with inspiration in the past. He hears a song he’s heard a hundred times before, but this time it sparks a mood and an idea. And then he has something to work with, and as he says:
“When it comes to writing, something is better than nothing.”
But if you’re determined to find the perfect idea, rather than something that’s merely good enough, chances are you’re not going to write a word. This is as relevant for you if you have too many ideas, as it is if you think you don’t have any. In fact, if you’re in the latter group, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that you have lots of things you could write about; but perhaps you’re overwhelmed by which is the ‘right’ thing.
We’re hardwired to do the right thing. From a young age we learn values and beliefs that shape how we interact with the world at large. And while these values and beliefs may evolve with time and experience, that sense of doing the right thing stays with us.
But when it comes to blogging, searching for the one right thing to write about will send you hurtling through a vortex of uncertainty and indecision, only for you to arrive at the conclusion that you can’t write a blog post today after all. And frankly, you don’t have time for that. You need to be able to sit down, write your blog post, publish it, and get on with your day.
All your blog post has to do is give your ideal customer a reason to choose you. And if you’re putting a heap of pressure on yourself looking for the big reasons, you should know that more times than not it’s an accumulation of small, subtle reasons that does the trick. So a greater number of ‘good enough’ blog posts are better than fewer ‘perfect’ blog posts!
So when it comes to blogging, choose something over perfection: or in other words, choose something over nothing. Make a choice, write about it, publish it, move on.
If you still think you have nothing to write about and need some inspiration, here’s a post I wrote last year about 15 things you could blog about. Choose one and start writing!
Happy Blogging!