How To Find Inspiration to Write Everyday
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Edward of TheBlogBeat asked me this question some days back:
Question: You stated you write an article every day, but how do you find the inspiration for writing an article everyday? Where do you find the time to research and writing without recovering what you’ve already covered?
Here is my answer:
“Inspiration is wonderful when it happens, but the writer must develop an approach for the rest of the time… The wait is simply too long.” - Leonard Bernstein
My approach:
1. Research.
I always have a pen and paper ready whenever I’m reading a book. If I come across a good idea, I mark the page number down. I do the same online. Whenever I come across an article, I add it to my scrapbook (its a firefox plugin). Having 10-12 half baked ideas before you have to write is the first step. Once you have a good idea, then its just a matter of filling out the details.
Start Your Own Idea Swipe File TodayA
2. No Distraction.
The great copy writer Eugene Schwartz used to do this. He had an egg timer that he always set it to 33.33. He would then clear his desk and remove everything except his type writer and the egg timer. For 33 minutes and 33 seconds, he couldn’t move from the chair. Its ok if he doesn’t write anything and simply stares at the blank white paper. But he can’t move.
After a few minutes of being bored out of his mind, ideas would come to him automatically.
Remove all your Distractions
and Simply Start Writing!
I have plugins installed on my browser that don’t allow me to access my email inbox and my RSS feed reader and other forums before noon everyday. By cutting out distraction in the early part of the day, I can write more. (Its another firefox plugin that I use - called LeechBlock. There are other similar options and softwares available too.)
Yes, I <3 FireFox 
3. External Pressure.
Set deadlines. Nothing sparks your creativity better than constraints. As paradoxical as this sounds, trust me: limit your time frame and you’ll end up writing really really well. Set deadlines. Set external pressure. And you’ll not only get your work done, but you’ll do the work better.
For eg: for the newsletters that I publish, I have a fixed deadline. And I let the subscribers know about the deadline. So if they don’t receive the newsletter by the deadline, I’ll receive a few dozen emails and phone calls.A For the guest posts that I publish, I let the publisher or the editor know when they can expect the article.A Commitment gets the writing done.A On time.
Commit to a Timeframe
Anyone can create external pressure for themselves. Simply ask 1-2 friends to call and shout at you if you fail to send them your article by a fixed time everyday. (These friends could also act as your friendly proof readers.)
4. Actual Writing.
Over the years, I’ve developed my own formula for quick writing. Its based on a quote from one of my favourite writers - that I can share with you:
“The secrets of telling a story well are three:
1. How to end
2. Where to begin
3. What to leave out.”
- Roy H. Williams
I just follow the 3 steps most of the time:
i. write the end first.
ii. Then start at the beginning.
iii. And then edit the article well.
Action Summary:
- Create your own idea book.A Once you have a few half baked ideas to write on, then its just a matter of filling in details.
- Get rid of all the distractions and simply start writing.
- Commit yourself to deadlines.A Ask a few of your faithful readers to proof read your work for you, and let them know when you’ll be sending in the drafts.
- Come up with your own writing formula or template.A It makes writing a lot quicker.
It would be awsome if you could share your writing tips with me too!
If you liked this post, buy me a beer. (Suggested: $3 a beer or $7.5 for a pitcher)Spread the word:
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it is not hard to get new ideas or inspiration if you really have passion at your niche.
Posted 11 Sep 2007 #
Wallace: Thanks. I have a slightly different view point. Commitment trumps passion. Commitment combined with desire always leads to passion. Commit to a slightly like-able goal and passion will grow out of thin air.
Maybe I’ll post about why I think commitment is more powerful than being passionate…
Posted 11 Sep 2007 #
Great advice. This is the first time I’ve visited your blog and here’s how I found you. I linked through Sly’s comment on Problogger, who had a link to your article on Northxeast. Then I found you here.
Your post on Northxeast was absolutely fantastic by the way. How long did you take to write it?
You definitely know how to spread the word about your blog!
Posted 11 Sep 2007 #
A really useful post, Ankesh, thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without my book of ideas.
Two additional strategies that work for me are:
1. Looking far outside my niche. I find I’m at my least innovative when looking for ideas in other blogs that deal with content creation. A visit to a completely unrelated blog, like Boing Boing, for example, can trigger a number of interesting ideas.
2. Limitation. Sometimes you’re at your most creative when you have a limited amount to work with. I’ve thought of a handful of good ideas when I’ve challenged myself to draw them out of a single page of a book. The more limited your source, the more creative you have to be.
Posted 11 Sep 2007 #
This is an excellent post, Ankesh. I’ve been slow to write this week, and your article here is just what I needed. Thanks for your good ideas.
Posted 12 Sep 2007 #
Catherine: Thanks for your kind words
The NxE article took me about an hour or so to write. But it wasn’t written together. I had marked the case studies in it before hand - for other articles. And they were in my drafts. I just rewrote them and combined it into one decent article for NxE.
Posted 12 Sep 2007 #
Skellie: Thanks for sharing two excellent ideas.
1. When I was new to the marketing field, I devoured the… psychology and neuroscience magazines instead of the marketing books. Thats what gave me my edge I think. I always remember Henry Ford. He build an automobile empire - by focusing on how the meat packaging industry was run! You will always get your best ideas from other niches.
2. The ingenious human mind works best when limits and constraints are placed on it. Forcing yourself to come up with ideas from just one random page is an excellent idea. Thanks for talking about it Skellie.
Posted 12 Sep 2007 #
Chris: Thanks for the comment and the beer
Glad I could help you!
Posted 12 Sep 2007 #
[…] Links Just been pointed to a rather nice little Firefox addons called Leechblock by a post over on Blog Clout. LeechBlock is a simple productivity tool designed to block those time-wasting sites that can suck […]
Posted 13 Sep 2007 #
[…] Ankesh from Blog Clout tells us “How to Find Inspiration to Write Every Day“ […]
Posted 15 Sep 2007 #
This is good. I like the part about being bored out of your mind. I think that is why I come up with my best ideas when I have insomnia. But I don’t want to have that every night….so perhaps I’d better get a timer.
Posted 15 Sep 2007 #
Bloggrrl: Michelle - you could also try searching for a timer software. I used to use a shareware called “Egg Timer” on my old laptop. It was pretty nifty little alarm clock that sat in the background and beeped every 33 minutes or 48 minutes - or whatever time you set.
Posted 18 Sep 2007 #
Once I was determined to blog daily, it wasn’t writing but the time to get everything written that was the issue.
I always have a notebook and pen, whether I’m reading or doing other things, just to jot down anything that comes to me.
And Natalie Goldberg’s book Writing Down the Bones is my bible when it comes to writing.
Posted 26 Sep 2007 #
Stephan: Thanks. I’ll have to check out Natalie Goldberg’s book.
Posted 28 Sep 2007 #
Thank you for these nice tips ! They were very useful. I simply don’t know what to write everyday, although I browse thousands of sites every day I don’t remember which was interesting or not.
When I am trying to write something all my ideas flush away.
Posted 22 Oct 2007 #
[…] How to Find Inspiration to Write Everyday: Bloggers will find this article useful, as it has great ideas for finding motivation and subject matter to create frequent postings. […]
Posted 24 Jan 2008 #
[…] Blog Clout - How To Find Inspiration To Write Everyday […]
Posted 11 Feb 2008 #
Cool! Now, I know what to write in my new notebook
Posted 27 Mar 2008 #
It’s really not a big secret or anything like it, but I do indeed love your strategies and methods. Thanks for writing such a great and inspirational article.
Posted 17 Apr 2008 #
[…] But wacky is good! Because anything out of the ordinary can trigger your creativity. Check out this great article on how to keep inspiration […]
Posted 21 Apr 2008 #
[…] But wacky is good! Because anything out of the ordinary can trigger your creativity. Check out this great article on how to keep inspiration […]
Posted 21 Apr 2008 #
I think actual writing is what does it most for me. I can think about it and think about it all day, but I won’t be able to get the creative juices really running until I actually get a pen, pencil, or keyboard and start getting words on a document.
Posted 13 May 2008 #