January 28, 2013 
You are lost for an idea and not sure how to get your creative juices flowing. You want to write something, but don’t know how to start.
You have been sitting in front of your laptop all afternoon, waiting for the blog fairy to smile on you. Well, she will, but maybe not in the way you expect her to.
Creating a blog can be difficult, and if you don’t know how to start, there are a few tricks of the trade that any blogger should know about.
Blogging has become a global past-time in the 21st century and everyone wants to get in on the act. Blogging is a way of saying your own thing, but don’t agonize if you don’t have a brilliant idea for a blog.
The secret is that you don’t have to go looking for an idea…they come looking for you…and they usually appear in a way that you least expect.
Like all good ideas, they often appear as a passing thought and most people don’t realise how valuable they can be, but when one does pop into your head, grab it with both hands and run with it.
Latch onto those first few words. Train yourself not to overlook them. Passing thoughts might be random, but they are gifts in a way…little seeds just waiting to be cultivated.
Your best ideas usually appear when your mind is a blank…and a blank canvas is a very good place to start. Mostly, a few words will pop into your head, but that is all you ever get and in most cases, that is enough to get you started.
In the blogosphere, words are the magic wands of creative people and they have the power to take you on a journey, but to get that blog happening is a major effort and at first, it might seem a little daunting.
Don’t dilly-dally when an idea does appear. Write it down immediately or you might forget it and then start playing around and see where it goes. Getting that first sentence right is the trickiest part of the writing routine. It tells the reader what they are in for.
It might take a while to get it into shape…but you must be prepared to play around with it, over and over again in most cases, before you have any idea what it is that you are going to write about.
Be brutal. Push them around until they begin to take on a life of their own…
So…let’s say that you have done that…and you are sitting at your laptop an hour later, waiting for it all to make sense…but still, nothing is happening.
Nothing will happen unless you add a little fuel to the fire. You have the skeleton of an idea but you must keep at it. Don’t give up in despair, continue to play around with what you’ve got. You really do have to fiddle around as I said, again and again and again in most cases…it is the only way to make it work.
But, most of the action takes place on the keyboard. Peck away at those half-finished sentences. Edit out the rubbish. Rearranging what you have is essential. It adds depth and it allows your idea to expand.
The best way to get that inspiration flowing is through your fingertips. Your fingers, believe it or not are like little athletes and they are just waiting for a seriously good workout, waiting for you to get that ball rolling.
A good blog can take hours to write. The first draft for this one took most of the evening. It was a response to a request from a few visitors to my website on how to create a blog. I didn’t know what I was going to write about at first…but the internet fairy came to my rescue and whispered an idea into my head.
I eventually finished it and posted it on WordPress before I went to bed. When I took a look at it the following morning, it was a mess…so it was back to the editing room. I had to sit down for a few more hours to rework it and then re-posted it with a completely different title.
I didn’t know what I was going to write about at first, but it was the result of a few random words that popped into my head…a helpful hint, a starting point, a suggestion as to what I might do.
In reality, a story has an energy of its own and it knows where it wants to go. It is essential that you understand this little secret and follow the clues that it dictates and the routine it has set in place.
The secret of a good blog is that it must not only engage you…it must engage the reader as well. In a book, it is essential to grab a reader’s attention and keep them reading.
It doesn’t matter whether it is a blog, a book or a movie…your blog has to sound credible and it is a good idea if it travels along interesting or unusual lines.
A good story has complications; a character might be confronted by a difficulty or maybe even a life-threatening situation to which he or she has to find a solution. That is the primary element that keeps a reader wanting to know more.
But a blog is a little different…it doesn’t have to have a complication or a main character, but it does help if it is a little bit interesting or humorous or even a little quirky, and the good thing is that it doesn’t have to be brilliant.
Once you have finished your masterpiece and are comfortable with what you’ve created… post it on the web; other people will read it and tell you whether or not they approve.
Remember…all you have to do is engage the reader for a few passing minutes and if they like what they read…hopefully…they will let you know and if you are lucky enough, they might even become one of your followers.
If that is all you set out to achieve…then writing a blog is worth the effort. After all, they connect you to people you have never met before and are never likely to meet, but…you never know…life is a strange and interesting experience with elements you cannot foresee.
If it does nothing else…a blog is a challenge and getting it right does wonders for your self-esteem.
So, to wrap this little routine up…in the words of this blog writer…there is one similarity between a good blog and a delicious chocolate ice cream. We all love our treats and chocolate ice cream is one thing that titillates our taste buds…but some blogs are tastier than others.
Why…they have that secret ingredient that keeps us going back for more.
So, the next time the blog fairy rings the midnight bell, invite her in to enjoy the most recent treat from the depths of your unexplored pantry.
She will be happy to pop back in and help you whip up a new idea or two.
She’s like that!
She is the Blog Fairy after all…
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Hang in there. Don’t go anywhere, not until you have taken a close look at this painting called Hana by Jean-Luc Bozzoli
Hana
To see even more of Jean-Luc’s artwork – go to – www.eyewithin.com
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