It’s been a day or two since you’ve written anything, your fingers don’t want to type, and your mind is a blank. Welcome to the wonderful world of the writer! This article may help you out of “the hole” and back into the fray.
First things first: Why can’t you find anything to write about? Maybe you’ve been too busy, or not busy enough. If you’ve been out three nights in a row and you can’t seem to catch up on day-to-day housework, now’s the time to stay home. You need to slow down, clean your desk, unclutter your email, and scan the news pages. Try using GoogleReader. Go ahead, look it up and choose topics that you really like to read about. You can program it to find news on any topic or any celebrity. I scan it when I’m bored, because there’s always something interesting in my list of subjects. Most of the time I find two or three worthy stories to follow up on, and I keep a list by “starring” the articles for later (if I’m too busy to write at that moment). Be careful, though, because inspiration hits quickly, and saving things for later may make those stories too stale to work on.
If you’ve been pent up indoors for too long, get out, stroll, hop on your bike, or get on a bus. Don’t drive by yourself; you’ll never hear or see the happenings in your neighborhood that way. Buses are the best mode, because people talk! You’ll tour the neighborhood, and see things that may be happening that are newsworthy. Talk to others, Start a conversation. Ask what’s up. You never know who is working on who’s campaign, or who’s going to be having a festival and where. Because you’ve engaged yourself, it also creates that inner-interest that’s needed to write a good article. You’ll be a part of it!
Bored? Can’t seem to be interested in anything? Try doing something else for a while. Go out, see a movie, go to a restaurant, or go to a park. Each spot has different possibilities. The movie could be reviewed, and so could the theater, the restaurant could be part of a series on, say, Italian Restaurants in your area (a great local piece) and the park, whether a beach or a playground, will have some attraction (a food court?) or story (was the beach closed?) that you can use to get your article written. Again, being there, and experiencing it for yourself is a big part of the motivation to write.
Can’t get organized? Try the “snowflake” method. Write your first sentence, and take a long time to do it. Think about every word, what you intend to convey, and then go for it. Write a list of points that you want to make. Write sentences around the points. Write a conclusion sentence, and take your time doing it. Make sure it sums up all of your points and has a ring to it. Now fill in the lines with anything you think you’ve missed, and you have an article.
Word count getting you down? The best way to shorten a piece is to find the most important parts, and cut anything else. It’s sad to lose the detail, but sometimes blunt is better. Not enough words? It’s time to do some research. Any topic that you’re writing about will be covered somewhere on the Internet. If it’s not, look up something similar, and do a compare and contrast. You’ll find more sentences in a flash.
Most of all don’t get angry at yourself for not writing everyday. Sometime your brain just needs a breather, and you’ll feel better in a day or so. Try some of the methods above, and if you’re still stuck, seek out other writers for inspiration.