I sat down to blog, and I looked in my publish queue to see if there was anything I wanted to work on. Unfortunately, the publish cupboard was bare. I didn’t know what to do because I like publishing on my blog, and I like to have a daily record of at least two published posts. Often I will do a backlog before I complete the current assignment, because I have gotten behind. I find that I tend to blog better when I have the ‘mood’. However, this ‘mood’ can be dangerous. And today, I needed it but it had gone on holiday.

Where was I going to find some ideas? Well, I started looking in the news at Google News for ideas, and I found something about Mars that had tweaked my interest. I was able to match that with a Mars panorama. Boom! A post was born.

Then I read through Google Reader’s feeds, but so many posts were talking numbers that I didn’t find it enticing at all today to talk about $, % or #. But still, you never know when your subscribed feeds may provide something really juicy.

Also, you can check out other types of media, such YouTube for ideas. Though many of the videos are quite silly, you can surely find something to get your blogging juices started!

Many people suggest checking the articles at sites like ArticleBase or ArticleCity for ideas. However, I have not found that helpful, as many of the articles just remind me of the things I don’t want to write about. But it’s worth a thought, if you’re really stuck.

The last way I can think of is just to start writing something. In fact, my blog is full of drafts that were begun this way. So sometimes I can begin something with a few words or more, and then save it for a time when I have a clearer idea of how to finish it. Other times I can open a post that has been begun in this way, and add or edit it as necessary so that it is fit for publication. This tactic separates the ideation and editing process and thus makes blogging successfully much easier.

There are many ways to find great ideas about how to blog, but I’ll just highlight five ways. How have you overcome blogger’s block? What techniques work for you?