It's difficult when you are working for yourself. Whether you are running a home business, you are the sole employee, or you are a freelance contractor, you are the boss, the employee, the accountants, and the list goes on. But for those in a creative capacity, especially those bloggers out there who need to be on the ball when it comes to generating top quality content, the pressure can be insurmountable. That feeling of having to come up with the goods every single time is a stress that is all too real to most bloggers out there. You can feel like you're running on empty a lot of the time, and feel dry as far as inspiration is concerned. When it comes to generating content, inspiration needs to come to you in droves. But combined with a steady work ethic, you can always come up with the goods. But when it comes to finding inspiration, it can be almost anywhere. So, if you find yourself running dry, what can you use as inspiration that is all around you?

This is a contributed post and contains affiliate links. My website is my job, and helps to support our family. If you decide to buy something you see mentioned here, I would be so thankful if you clicked through my links so I can receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you! Please read my full disclosure.

[ctt template=”4″ link=”8c98G” via=”yes” ]When it comes to finding inspiration, it can be almost anywhere. Here are some sources of inspiration for the working blogger.[/ctt]

Image Source

When The Well Is Dry… Unlikely Sources Of Inspiration For The Working Blogger

Literature

For the standard blogger, you can be quite dismissive of literature as a tool for inspiration. The fact of the matter is, when you are trying to acquire inspiration for your writing, it can come from the most unlikely of sources. If you are actively looking for inspiration, or ideas to pilfer into your content, it's not about looking at a topic on the face of it. Use your imagination, if you have various forms of literature on your bookshelf, you can use a title to springboard you to another place. Just because the literature you have isn't on topic, doesn't mean that you can't use it as a starting point. When it comes to getting inspiration, it's about absorbing as much information as possible. They say that for writers, it's important to absorb as many different sources as you can. So you don't need to have a library of books on the art of blogging, but instead have everything you can possibly comprehend. From biographies, to Greek literature, to fiction, and everything in between. The more information you absorb on a daily basis, the more ideas you will have now and in the future. The important thing is to not go looking for the idea, but to let the idea come to you. And the way to do this is to continually load yourself with information, and when it comes to literature, it's a great way to expose yourself to different styles of writing. If you are stuck on one style, opening yourself up and seeing how Haruki Murakami, Paul Auster, or Emily Bronte write, for example, is going to widen your sphere of comprehension.

YouTube Resources

Now that we've established that it's all about absorbing as much information as possible, it's now time to dig deep into what YouTube has to offer. We can spend so long skimming the surface of YouTube, without burrowing deep under the surface and seeing how many jewels there really are located in the vaults. When it comes to expanding your range of knowledge, especially on specific topics, instead of typing in a search on to Google, put it into YouTube and see the results. For example, if you wanted to write about stocks and shares, there are many resources for the beginner, that explains it in simple terms. The big problem we all have when it comes to researching topics online is that we can find ourselves going down a certain path, and finding a lot of important information on a specific subject, but we don't get to the bare bones of it, nor understand the basics. This is going to show through in our writing, and results in content that is neither here nor there. YouTube is an excellent resource in this respect, and much like the internet, there are going to be videos of questionable quality, but there are so many clips that run the gamut of 20th and 21st-century popular culture that you can find almost anything. As far as YouTube is concerned, it's a great entryway into learning the bare bones about almost anything. If you wanted to learn about the art of rhetoric, there is a high amount of resources that delves deep into the subject, but also gives you the basics. As far as mastery over a subject is concerned, YouTube is very much underrated. This can be a very useful tool for the person who has to learn a topic quick so they can write about it.

Modern Streaming Services

And for the areas that YouTube cannot reach, you've got your streaming services, including podcast providers. The great thing about podcasts, in general, is that you can imbibe a lot of information while you are on the move. If you're a busy blogger constantly on the go, this is your gold mine when it comes to researching almost anything. And on the other side of the coin, the caliber of Netflix documentaries provides a great entryway onto a subject like bitcoin, the works of Joan Didion, and pretty much anything you can think of. Of course, for the home-based blogger, it’s important to get a better cable service than your average TV and internet user, as you need to grasp as much information as you possibly can. There's no time for buffering here! And as far as your technological resources are concerned, the home-based blogger needs to have the best they can afford. Again, it's about getting yourself into that frame of mind where you can absorb information. And the best way to do it is to surround yourself with as much as you possibly can. Even if you're not actively switched onto learning what you're watching or reading, something will infiltrate your system and will come out when it's ready. This is the importance of creativity, if you can surround yourself with all different types of information, a handful of words here, or a picture there, will inspire you in a totally different way.

Life In General

There are two sides to the creative writing process, the art of writing itself, but before that comes observation. Having an ability to look beyond your computer screen, and observe what is around you is something that will provide the most unlikely of inspiration points. And it's something that is very much underestimated now. For the blogger who is constantly on the go, looking at what is trending, they aren't keeping their ear to the ground. It's a great method to see what life is like around you. The idea of capturing the zeitgeist and distilling it into a blog post isn't always about seeing what's going on in the news, but having an astute sense of observation in how people are reacting in an emotional sense to the world. We can go on social media and see what people are posting or sharing, but is this the entire equation? Looking at life in general, and using it as inspiration for your writing is something that always used to be done, but is now happening less and less. The great thing about sitting in a cafe, in silence, and just looking at what is going on around you, could give you many different perspectives on a situation, and infinite doses of inspiration for your writing. It's one thing to absorb as much popular culture as possible, but the ability to sit down and observe the truth of what is going on in front of your very eyes requires a person who is looking beyond the online and social media world. It's what the best reporters do; they look for the story in the most mundane of circumstances. And as far as translating it into a blog post that gathers traffic and inspires shares, looking at what is going on around you, and interpreting this into something that people will see online will make other people sit up and take notice. They will feel a sense of empathy for what is going on, and this is an important aspect of the personality in a blog post. Because many bloggers are focused on their views and their opinions, it can be very much objective, but by flipping it on its head and bringing in the subjective, you're making very much more well-rounded posts, and this, from a business standpoint, will click with people and will inspire them to share it. So, instead of going out and looking down at your tablet or phone, put your phone away, and look up!

Inspiration is something that lots of writers expect to come to them, and the only way to really ensure that it comes to you on a regular basis is to put as much effort into finding inspiration. This means surrounding yourself with information, and not just one type, but every single type imaginable. Note that blogs didn't go into this article, because it is one aspect and the most obvious one. Instead, go for as many diverse styles as possible, and it's going to influence your writing in many different ways. You might wonder what Greek literature has to do with blog posts, but it's all about perspective and different styles, and when you start to dig deeper into these different types of writings, something switches on in your mind and inspires you to do something different. And variety, especially when it comes to blog posts, is what will get people to click on it and to keep reading.

This is a contributed post.

Subscribe so you never miss a post.

Please share this post.