Staring at a Blank Screen
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
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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…
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
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.
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
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
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
Of course I go back to my archives and wonder what the hell I was thinking!
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!