Written on July 23, 2010 at 8:48 am by

Inspiration

Filed under Inspiration, Writer's Block {13 comments}
300px Moreau%2C Gustave H%C3%A9siode et la Muse 1891 Inspiration
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During these summer months I often struggle to put up a good post on my blog Redhead Ranting, or any of them for that matter. I don’t know why summer brings writer’s block. It could be there are just so many other things to be doing, it could be the kids are home and it’s challenging at best to think let alone write, or it could be that it’s just time to take a little break until the muse comes back from her vacation in the Caymans.

Whatever the reason, I have managed to find inspiration in a few unlikely places:

Read blogs and comments

I’ve been inspired many times by reading other writers work.  You never know when something another person says hits just the right point and you get a sliver of an idea. One of my most popular posts was inspired by MrsBlogAlot’s post called Blog Junkie. I left a comment on her site and before I knew it, realized I had a great post and Boyfriend or Blog was born.

Re-read your old posts

How often do you go back and look at your older writing? Probably not enough. I’ve often gone back to an article I wrote months or years ago and wondered who that person was who wrote it. I have no recollection of writing it nor do I know where the inspiration came from. Of course I call that phoning it in. When I read  one of my older posts that doesn’t sound familiar I will often see if I can’t rework it to be a better post.

Participate in a meme

There is a meme for each day of the week, Musical Monday, Top Ten Tuesday, What the Hell Wednesday, and so on. There are hundreds, if not thousands of days of the week memes out there so if you are lacking inspiration you can always fall back on one of these.

Step away from the computer

It’s okay if you don’t update your blog for a few days. The internet won’t implode and your readers will be there when you return. Sometimes just stepping away for a bit can lure the muse back.

Take a long walk or drive

I do some of my best writing when I am taking a walk or driving. Of course I can’t actually write but I can think about different topics. Letting my mind wander boosts my creativity and it helps me relax, two key ingredients to writing great stuff.

Pull out those old photos

Linda, from Roses to Rainbows, takes lots of photos and then when she needs inspiration she looks through them and is often struck with a post based on an image.  There are websites dedicated to old photos such as Awkward Family Photos, surely you have a picture like Joann’s from Laundry Hurts My Feeling, we all do tucked away somewhere.

Write about your blog

One of the funniest and most inspiring articles I have ever read came from Tracy at I Hate My Message Board. What is your blog about, do you have a manifesto? If you don’t this is a great way to not only create a post but to also figure out just what your blog is all about. And you might learn a little something about yourself along the way.

Those are just a few ways that I find inspiration. How do you find your muse?

Inspiration
pixel Inspiration
  • http://www.ihatemymessageboard.com Tracy

    Hey, thanks for the mention. I usually find my inspiration while I’m doing something else. It’s no good to just sit and stare at the screen and hope it comes. If I can’t think of anything to write about, that’s my cue to go and do the dishes or the grocery shopping and something will come to me.

  • http://injaynesworld.blogspot.com injaynesworld

    Nice to know it’s not just me having attacks of creative constipation. I think my muse is off in the Cayman Islands with yours right now. Although being a news junky, there’s almost always something I can find to go off about. I usually post every Wednesday and then on Sunday I do my events of the week rap-up with the “Sunday Recap…” which is always fun to write.

    Thanks for the suggestions for inspiration.

    And I love what you’ve done with the place.

  • http://www.cardiogirl.net cardiogirl

    Oh man, that’s one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard — creating a manifesto for my blog! Now I need to research the manifestos out there. I think I should stay away from Hitler and the Unibomber, but it might be interesting to see where they were, emotionally speaking, when they authored those tomes.

    Nice layout, btw!

  • http://beetle-blod.com Babs (Beetle)

    I feel relieved to know that there are others who have summertime block. I have to walk away from it and do other stuff. Usually something pops in my mind when I do that, though not always.

  • http://www.smalltownmommy.com Anne

    I vote for the kids being around. Of course, I like to blame everything on the children :) . I find it very hard to focus all around during the summer (not just on blogging). I may have to try to figure out what my blog is all about. I am going to BlogHer in 2 weeks and I know that is the first thing people will ask me and I don’t have an answer.

  • http://www.margsanimals.com/blogs Marg

    I have to agree with you on all your great points about blogging. I love to read other people’s blogs too and have certainly learned a lot of things from reading blogs. Sometimes silly things, like what kind of bug that is in the picture but it is still fun. Can’t wait to see the new Tribal site. Have a great week end.

  • http://robinswoods.blogspot.com/ Jennifer Robin

    My muse has always been my photography (and of course, the people/things that inspire it!), and while I have never considered myself to be a “writer”, my blog has turned out to be like a book of my life, especially in it’s early days when I actually wrote a lot more. I love going back and rereading it, and am amazed at how I could sit down daily and pour forth with such feeling. I have relied on memes from time to time to keep the flow going, but I think my favorite theme would be the very personal one of writing letters to my dead mother; sort of a message in a bottle for her to hopefully find and read so that she can see the person I have become.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this post, and look forward to the latest incarnation of Tribal Blogs!

  • http://nonamedufus.blogspot.com/ nonamedufus

    Those are all good suggestions Jen. Writer’s block is very real. On my main blog ( I have 2 other blogs, posting 3x a week each) “nonamedufus” – a humour blog – I post 7 days a week. But I run a caption contest Wednesday, the results Saturday and post political cartoons Sunday. That leaves 4 days of original material to fill. It isn’t always easy.

    I search news sites to find items I might satirize or parody and the “odd” news sites for items I can embellish and make fun of. Writing around pictures is another fallback, googling “silly pics” of something and then adding your own text.

    And if I’m really stuck for a topic, sometimes I even write about having writer’s block!

  • http://roses2rainbows.blogspot.com Linda

    Hi Jen,

    Nice new, crisp look! This is a great article on inspiration and getting your muse on. Thank you for the mention. And yes, photos get used often, both my own and those from memes such as Magpie Tales. I’ll be trying out some of your methods, and I need to re-read Tracy’s manifesto post.

  • http://kikiwalter.blogspot.com KiKi

    WOW — The site looks amazing!!

    Anyway — great article! I almost wrote about writer’s block — I was choosing between one of two topics — but this is SOOOO much better and informative than what I was mulling over in my mind…so true, and of course, funny!

    When I get writer’s block, it is BAD. I went months last year without writing…I got so stuck — and lost lots of followers in doing so. But it is just impossible to force it…and because I write essays, insincerity can be extremely obvious. Ironically, since I’ve stopped pressuring myself to be “consistent” in posting — I’m much more consistent. :-)

  • http://www.nannygoatsinpanties.com Margaret (Nanny Goats)

    I’m a lot like Linda, where I take lots of pictures and often get inspired by starting with a photo.

  • http://www.mrsblogalot.com MrsBlogAlot

    For me, I never know when or where a post is coming from. And sometimes it will come in the most inconvenient of places ….which is a post in and of itself.

    Most times, if I’m not near a computer or pen and paper, I forget the idea by the time I get home. I call those the Lost Posts. And I picture them all laughing at me on some fancy blog resort sipping pina coladas and telling bad publishing jokes.

    I also hear dead people.

  • http://catloverssite.info/ Rebecca

    Well for me all I have to do is look at the cats, or take some photos, and something pops into my head.
    Besides hearing the dead people, you should listen too. They have lots of great ideas.

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