Blog News Watch

In some way, I think bloggers who complain about not having ideas to blog about are really masquerading the real problem. If you’re really, truly, honestly struggling for ideas, it’s possible that you’re thinking too broadly or, less commonly, too restrictively. Read on, and see if this is you. If so, fear not - I have the solution!

A lot of first-time (and well-practiced) bloggers struggle with the proper “angle” for the blog topic. An “angle” is the slant of the post, the specific treatment of the topic. Example: the topic is “selecting blogging content.” The angle is “how to narrow your focus and carve out more posting ideas from the same larger topic.” When brainstorming topics, bloggers will list various topics that interest them and relate to the blog’s overarching purpose. But what’s wrong with these lists, invariably, is that the topics are too broad.

Try this - 300 words on “setting up a blog.” Now. Go! I’ll wait…

… yeah, not so easy is it? There’s simply too much to say about a topic like “setting up a blog.” And if you try, what you’ll end up with is some vague, nonspecific crap post. Sorry to be so blunt, but there it is.

Now try this - 300 words on “choosing a blog platform.” Better, right? But still too broad.

Try this, then: 300 words on “the 5 things you love about Wordpress.”

Aha! Now, there’s a blog topic.

So - what to do? Take a look at your topic. Now, pretend you’re about to do the thing you’re writing about. If you’re going to do that thing, whatever it is, what’s the first step? And the next? List them all out. (This works even if you’re not writing about an action, by the way. If it’s a news topic - a recent development - pretend you’re about to explain it to someone - which, heh, you are. What’s the first thing you need to tell them? And the next? What’s the timeline of events at work here?)

Now you have a list of more tightly-defined subjects. Work that list over into angles. Now, not only do you have your blog post topic, you have a whole list of them. Maybe even a series.

Got another method for narrowing down your topics? Let us know.

By the way, that 300 words? Just for show. There is no optimal word count, that I know of. It really depends on the type of blog, the focus, the topic, the angle, your mood, and the amount of coffee in your cup.

blog content, topics, blogging

It’s my pet peeve: wholesale “copy/paste”-ing from another blogger of entire posts, or darn near the entire post, into one’s own blog. Yes, I know you attribute your source. I know you link back to the original blog. I. Don’t. Care. It’s still silly, wrong, and counterproductive to your own blog.

Your readers come to your blog to read your thoughts. As wild as that undoubtedly sounds to some part of you (and that part of me just can’t get over it, still), it’s true. Posting someone else’s thoughts robs them of that opportunity. And what’s going to happen when this occurs over and over again? They’ll start to agree with that self-loathing part of you that can’t believe they like you in the first place, and find another blog to read.

That blog post you’re eyeing represents someone else’s sweat and tears - an honest effort. Even if you’re lifting it to disagree with them, you’re depriving that blogger of deserved traffic. Think about it - if someone’s interested in reading that piece, they would have gone to that other blog, before you interfered. That’s traffic they’ll never get now, because why click the cow when the milk’s free … or, er, something like that?

It’s cheating, frankly. If that blog post represents a subject you want to write about, then write about it - in your thoughts, in your own words. Link to the other post if you like, but offer the counterpoint that can only come from.

Don’t deprive the rest of us of your talents!

copying other blogs, choosing content for blogs, blogging ethics