Things I Do to Keep My Blogging Passion Alive

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Not too long ago, blogging was the ultimate choice for people to express themselves online. Today, blogging seems to be a dying fad. 

Earlier this year, NYTimes.com published an article speculating that blogging is a waning trend, as younger Internet users drift towards micro-blogging via popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is basically a multi-purpose hub for posting everything social, whereas Twitter allows posting of bite-sized messages no longer than 140 characters. Both sites provide an easy avenue for sharing ideas and keeping in touch with everyone. 

I've been blogging since August 2007. To be honest, sometimes I do feel uninspired to write lengthy posts with substantive conversation on my blog, especially when I run out of ideas and due to the lack of readership. My blogging passion is dwindling and ever since micro-blogging gave online expression a new perspective, I've also conveniently turned to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Posterous. 

Nevertheless, I still love my blog. It started off as my online journal and I vow to keep it alive and kicking. However, I find this easier said than done. This is when I stop hammering my poor brain for ideas and start doing something out of the box to jumpstart new views and hopefully find new topics to write about. The idea is to keep my blogging passion as alive as ever.

So, here's the list of things I usually do when I face blogger's block: 

1. Capture photos. One picture tells a million words, no doubt about that. I take snapshots of things around me that I find interesting and I write something about them. In fact, I have a section on my blog labeled as "Project 365" chronicling my journey of "A Photo A Day" for 365 days. 

2. Get inspiration from Facebook and Twitter. This may sound ironic but I believe that blogging and micro-blogging should complement one another. I usually browse through my Facebook news feed stream and Twitter timeline to glean interesting topics. Sometimes I bounce ideas off my friends and as they respond, I find myself inspired to write! 

3. Read inspirational quotes. As I read through inspirational quotes from great authors, songs, movies, TV shows etc., I find myself all perked up and inspired to do more writing. Here's one of my favorite quotes retrieved from Grey Anatomy: "Forgive and forget, that's what they say. It's a good advice, but it's not very practical. When someone hurts us, we want to hurt them back. When someone wrongs us, we want to be right. Without forgiveness, old scores are never settled... Old wounds never heal. And the most we can hope for is that one day, we'll be lucky enough to forget." 

4. Write something along recent news headlines. Things happen every minute, every day, anywhere around the globe. Sometimes I will pick an interesting piece of news headline that I fancy and start writing about whatever it inspires me. For example, the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is a very good topic to write about. 

5. Spin-off from Internet memes. One of the memes that have captured my attention is the 30 Day Book and Literature Challenge. I find that writing along guided topics can be easier and rewarding as well. 

6. Seek feedback from blog readers. I have a handful of friends who follow my online journal closely and sometimes my blog posts are inspired by their preferences and suggestions. Some affirmations from my friends do mean a lot along the way and I can be more inspired to work more on those different ideas. 

7. When all else fail, read a book. This is true in my experience. When all else fail, I will stop blogging, make a pot of hot tea and read a book. More often than not, I will be refreshed and have free-flowing spill of new ideas ready to be blogged! 

I do the things listed above because I really want to keep my blogging passion alive as seriously as I want to leave a "legacy" of my life anecdotes of which my children and grandchildren would be inspired in the future. 

So, what about you? What sort of things keep your blogging or writing passion alive?
 
Note: Article first published as Things I Do to Keep My Blogging Passion Alive on Blogcritics.

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