What to Write about When You Have Nothing to Write about

Here it is 9:00 p.m. the night before your blog post is due, and you haven’t written one word. You need to get up early the next day for a meeting, but no pressure, right? Also, there’s a full-scale pandemic going on that has you more than a little freaked out. What to do? Here are some ideas.

Go Back and Review

Now’s as good a time as any to reread some of your older writing. There was that whole series on social media and clowns, for instance. That was a fun series. Then there were a bunch where you wrote about Einstein, Tesla, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Social Media Needs. Do any of those have ideas that you could expound upon? Or are the times we’re living in just too somber? Well, you know what they say: one person’s somberness is another person’s circus! Or something like that.

Do a Best of Post

Here is where you could pick two or three or ten(!) of your favorite posts. For me, I’m going to pick just one. My favorite post is the one I wrote about Twitter lists. Why? I think the language is sharp and concise, and it was a joy to write, even though I edited it a million times. You probably have a favorite post, too. Or maybe a few.

Revisit

There might be a post that nobody read and you can’t figure out why. Did you ever pour your heart out writing something and feel that nobody even noticed? That happens sometimes. Could it be the timing? Maybe people were busy with some big event in their lives and didn’t have the time or inclination? Maybe the writing wasn’t up to your usual caliber. Or maybe the images in your post weren’t compelling. Try to see what happened.

If You’re Really Stuck, Ask a Friend

Reach out and ask a friend what to write. You’d be surprised what your friends know about you. And right now, they’re probably home since they’re all sheltering in place! So there’s that.