…when you don’t know what to write about.

We’ve all had those times when we’re feeling particularly uninspired. When I’m under stress, my creativity seems to dry up. Whether it’s fiction or blogging or something else, it’s tough to find that inspiration again.

Here are some tips you might find useful — I do.

Blogging 

1. Look back through your older posts. Expand on an idea you had earlier.
2. Explain how to do something.
3. Explain how not to do something.
4. Write a list of quick tips.
5. Look through your most popular posts and put up a list of them.
6. Write another post along the same subject as one of your most popular posts.
7. Read some other bloggers for inspiration.
8. Write a response to another blogger’s post in your own blog.
9. Address some reader question.
10. Write a post for new readers. I know I sometimes forget that my readers aren’t all long-timers. Give a quick intro to your blog, best posts, subscribing to RSS, etc.
11. Post a list of your favorite blogs to read.
12. Point out some good posts on other sites. Other bloggers will appreciate the links (and maybe reciprocate).
13. Talk about your traffic numbers and how things are going.
14. Go through your pictures directory and post something. Everyone likes pictures!
15. Get personal. Even if your blog is usually strictly on topic, write a quick note about what’s going on in your life.
16. Tell something funny that’s happened to you lately.
17. Talk about a blogging mistake you’ve made and what you learned from it.
18. Complain about something (or someone). Go on, you know it’ll make you feel better.
19. Tell your readers about your typical day.
20. Document an overheard conversation.

Fiction

1. Take a minor character and write a short story about him or her.
2. Use a person you know as a starting point for a character.
3. Borrow the first sentence or paragraph from your favorite novel. Continue on to write it as you want and ditch the borrowed material when you’re finished.
4. Take a story you like and summarize the plot in one sentence. (Ex. Romeo and Juliet becomes, Boy meets girl, families disapprove, lovers die.) Now, change an aspect of the plot and use it as a start for a story.
5. Stuck with your novel? Get in your character’s head for a day. What does his/her typical day look like? Where does he go, what does he eat, who are his friends?
6. Create a character whose personality doesn’t match her situation. For example, maybe a shy girl who dresses provocatively and parties a lot. Or an aggressive business man who’s afraid to ask out a woman he likes.
7. Check out the news, particularly the science pages, and write some ‘what-ifs’. What if I could get a robot to do my housework (be still my heart!)? What if cloned meat has some horrific side effect?
8. History buff? Try some more ‘what-ifs’. What if women didn’t have the right to vote? What if we had never fought in Vietnam? What if Neaderthals had survived in their own society alongside ours?
9. Write something different than you normally do. Write in a different genre, for a different group, etc.
10. Stuck in your novel? Brainstorm some endings, the more off-beat the better. Sometimes your ideas will turn the novel in just the direction it needs to go.

What creativity tricks do you use when you’re stuck? It happens to us all, so share!