I get a lot of writer’s block. It’s super frustrating to feel like you have nothing to say, even when it’s time to give your audience more content.
I’ve had to develop a few strategies for working around writer’s block. This is actually easier in the blogging world than in other writing spheres because of the typically timely and short nature of the work you are producing.
Here are the three of the best strategies I’ve found for overcoming significant writer’s block that are most directly applicable to legal blogging.
Read the news
If you’re blogging on a particular niche, you should be well-acquainted with the news sources and other experts in that area. Spend some time catching up on recent happenings or skimming one of your Twitter lists for inspiration.
When it comes time to write, having a specific story or news piece in mind is helpful in multiple ways. Not only can you report on the event in your own voice to your audience, you can offer your own perspective and concerns on what it means for the community concerned with your niche at large.
Follow up on a conversation
Maybe someone asked you an interesting question following your last blog post. Maybe you had a conversation with your a peer that raised some interesting points. Perhaps an exchange you had years ago has stuck with you because its points were still relevant.
If any of these apply to you, there’s potential for a new blog post. Simply recording a previous conversation in the form of a blog post and then discussing any potential questions it raises, either for your audience to ponder or for you to suggest answers to, is enough to keep things interesting.
Ask a question
Questions are also a good way to start a blog post. One of the most exciting parts about blogging is that, while it helps you establish yourself as an expert in your field, it also gives you the opportunity to learn with every post.
There are two ways to approach this. Firstly, you can ask a question about something concerning your niche, then spend the blog post exploring it through research. Secondly, if you are confident in your audience’s consistency and interaction with your blog, you can ask a general opinion question of them in your post and explain why you believe general consensus on the issue is important to your niche.
I can’t promise that any of these strategies are fail-proof, but they’re certainly a start to overcoming the ever-intimidating blank page and blank mind combination.