May 6, 2006

Don’t Fear the Blank Screen — Be a Miner

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:26 pm

Staring at a Blank Screen

Power Writing Series Logo

Staring at a blank screen does nothing for me. In fact, I recommend against it. In my way of thinking, blank things encourage more blank things. When I want my head filled with information and ideas, not with blank, emptiness I do this.

I read my archives — the articles and comments — to see what’s missing.

Mining the Archives

It works every time. Archives are like a idea-rich mine. Somewhere in a past article I come across something I’ve left out . . . or something that I know now that I didn’t know then. Bam! It’s the seed of a new article and there I am ready to write all over again.

My blank screen is blank no longer. Ideas were waiting for me right in the blog under that blank screen. I always find more than one nugget to get me started. Blog mining is a great way to get a post started.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
Eye-Deas 1: Have You Started Seeing Things?
Don’t Hunt IDEAS — Be an Idea Magnet
Why Dave Barry and Liz Don’t Get Writer’s Block
Got the Idea. Now What Do I Do with It?


Filed under Content, Successful Blog, Writing |



C'mon. Let's talk!

8 Comments to “Don’t Fear the Blank Screen — Be a Miner”

  1. May 6th, 2006 at 10:09 pm
    Advice Librarian said

    Sometimes it also helps to go out to forums and look at the questions people are asking - and write something to answer that question.

    At least, it does if you’re looking to write advice…

  2. May 6th, 2006 at 10:16 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi AL,
    That’s a great idea — mining forums for new nuggets to write about Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll try that one next time I’m out and about. :)

    Liz

  3. May 7th, 2006 at 4:11 am
    Mr Angry said

    That’s a great idea - I don’t have all that much of a back catalogue yet but I’m already forgetting somethings I posted. And many thoughts get better if they’re given a littl time to percolate.

  4. May 7th, 2006 at 6:35 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Mr. Angry,
    Thank you for your comment.

    Yeah, I realized a little while ago. That some of my readers were new and would never get back there. Also that I really should be reading my own blog. That’s how I discovered it was a great place to go find ideas, too.

    smiles,
    Liz

  5. May 7th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
    Tania from Germany said

    Hi Liz,
    I’m still there! Or did I misunderstand your words? “…that some of my readers were new and would never get back there.”
    I’m reading your blogs a couple of times every day. And so often I’m really surprised what I read. Sometimes it feels close to magic how the ideas you are working on are so close to what I’m thinking and feeling and brooding on.
    In this today post it’ gets close to “eery”. Mining blogs is exactly what I do when I got stuck. And it’s so helpful a great deal!

    Smiles
    Tania

  6. May 7th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Tania,
    Great to hear from you and to know you’re still out there! I didn’t realize you read all of my blogs. That’s very cool. How silly of me.

    Great minds follow the same paths. Or so they say. Anyway, I get a charge out of know that someone is listening. :)

    Liz

  7. June 6th, 2006 at 2:04 pm
    Jim Turner said

    Of course I go back to my archives and wonder what the hell I was thinking!

  8. June 6th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Jim,
    That’s why I go back there. I see how they are and I get a chance to rewrite them today as new ones! It’s a winning solution!

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

C'mon Let's Talk!