Motivation/Inspiration

Where I Find Inspiration

32 Comments

Our friend Peter asked an interesting question in one of his comments. His question was where I find the inspiration for all these posts and newsletters that I do. I guess it’s because I have a large output for all my blogs and my one newsletter, and of course all the writing I do for other people here and there.

I find inspiration in many places. Almost anything could spark an idea for writing a blog post. Even visiting other blogs or reading news stories or seeing what’s going on via Twitter or Facebook can spark something. And sometimes it’s a comment, like this post. Let’s take a look at my previous 10 posts on this blog to see where I got the inspiration from; I’m not going to link to them, just so you know.

I wrote about evaluating when to end something because I was reading another one of those blog posts where it was recommended to never give anything up because success is just around the corner. I had just a couple of weeks earlier stopped writing one of my newsletters because I realized I didn’t have what it took to write it anymore, and thus I felt what I was reading was contrary to what I was doing, and so I wrote about it.

I wrote about the song We Are the World because I was walking on the track at the gym listening to my MP3 player and it came up and I got chills listening to it. The impact was still strong when I got home, and there you go.

I wrote a Sunday post on cravings because I’ve been having a lot of them. I had just days earlier started a new metabolic eating plan that I’m being evaluated on, and I had been craving chocolate almost nonstop.

I wrote a post on the Count Per Day plugin because on one of the blogs I write for they had it, and I tested it to see how it compared to Analytics and wrote my thoughts on it all.

I wrote a post on blogging and Twitter because of a local event that showed just how fast news, good or bad, can spread based on a blog post and its popping up on Twitter, and how a business can either be ruined or have a chance to save their reputation.

I wrote a post on simple answers to what seems to be difficult problems because I’d just gone through two things, one literally a couple of days earlier, where I’d done a lot of work for nothing.

I wrote a post on the things a blog should have because of a comment someone left asking about it. Then the next day I wrote a post on the administrative area of WordPress because I had just helped a friend of mine set up a new blog, and she looked inside it and was really confused over what she saw.

I wrote the next Sunday post on trust because it’s the political season, and thus all those political commercials are on TV these days. It’s interesting how much we all hate them because they’re so mean, yet these people keep putting that trash on, and thus we don’t trust them because we know they could care less about us and are only in it for their own reasons.

And finally I wrote about the components of a newsletter because my friend has been thinking about writing one and kept asking me about length, images, etc, and it seemed like a good idea to write a post about it in case someone else had been wondering.

And there you go. See, it doesn’t take a lot to determine what to write a blog post about, even if I were writing a niche blog. Of course, this is the fun blog, so I write more posts on this one than the others. Inspiration really doesn’t have to be hard most of the time; all you have to do is pay attention to what’s going on, what people are saying to you, and of course your own feelings.
 

32 thoughts on “Where I Find Inspiration”

  1. I liked your insight! I guess my problem isn’t finding a topic so much as it is finding the time to write. I guess I have to act like Nike and… well you know the rest. 🙂

    1. Yes I do Selena, and you’re right, just doing it is the way to go. Just don’t trap yourself so much that you feel pressure keeping it up.

  2. There are a lot of things that in one way or another leads to a post. It could be an email, a photo, something on the news or perhaps something that is bothering me and I need to get it off my chest.

    Like you I can get inspired by a comment someone left or a post from another blogger. Truth be told there’s so much going on that it’s hard not to find something to write about.

    1. You and I are definitely alike in that regard, Sire. Course, you also write those poems that I haven’t been able to write in decades, so you have me there.

      2. No, I’m done with that type of writing in my life. I used to be a song writer, which included music and lyrics, and I gave that a shot & wasn’t successful, so I won’t be going back in that direction.

  4. Thanks Mitch

    Its quite simple really. I kind of do a similar thing but am involved in other work which I am not at liberty to blog about so have to keep my articles in the rather narrower world of IM land.

    Sometimes I find though when I am under pressure and looking for inspiration it wont come, only when relaxed.

    1. For this blog, I never have that problem. Actually, it’s the same with my business blog. My finance blog is a bit more difficult, but overall that one just takes the time to get to. But where I run into issues is for one of my client’s blogs, where I’ve written at least 300 articles on this particular topic, and every once in awhile it takes me an hour or so to think of a new angle that I want to tackle. But I’ve been writing that blog for well over a year now, and I continue pumping stuff out.

  5. Hello Mitch, I thinks it’s always helps to write about what you know, have experienced or just what your thoughts are on particular subject as stated in your last paragraph. I like how you wrote about where you find inspiration which spawned from a commenter wanting to know, where you get your inspiration from. That’s another approach one can take and it acknowledges your readers by saying, “I value your comments, questions, suggestions, etc. by implementing it into my post.” That means a lot to us. I would like your opinion on something and feel free to write a post on it if if inspires you to do so. I have been wanting to start back a blog that I had going before that touches on various topics but not sure if I should integrate it with my present blog, that way I can broaden my seo since its very limited right now as its a niche blog or should I just start new and let it be its own entity. Your thoughts?

    1. Karen, yours is an interesting case. Normally it’s kind of easy to answer this one, but you’ve established your blog with poetry, and I went looking through it and can’t find any prose on it, so to speak. Of course I had already checked out your About Page to see if it offered any extra insight (love the picture, by the way; no you don’t look your age 🙂 ). In my opinion, I think you need two separate blogs so you can keep your creative writing in one place and your other stuff in another place. And of course link them to each other.

      More creativity from you; can’t wait!

      1. Thanks for answering that. Actually 2 of the poems on there started out as prose, one called ‘Found and Lost’ but I kept going back and editing and it ended up shaped into more of a free verse poem. 2 separate blogs it is.

  7. You write great posts here Mitch and I’m not surprised that you use multiple scenarios for your inspiration. Cos my blog is fairly new I haven’t run out of inspiration yet.
    I do take note of questions my readers ask me and think about whether I will write a post incorporating some of their queries with information that they want.
    Patricia Perth Australia

    1. I’m going to be curious to see if you get to 100 posts writing only about lavender without repeating yourself at some point, Pat. You’ve found an interesting niche thus far and I’ve been surprised by some things you’ve said about it that I didn’t know.

      1. Wow that will be interesting Mitch. As there are 39 species of lavenders, lots of lavender recipes I haven’t even written about yet and a few questions people are asking even suggesting I could do a post on one;I’m up for the challenge.
        And I forgot to say…..some lavender product reviews 🙂
        Patricia Perth Australia

      2. And there you go Pat; see now, another thing I learned, 39 species of lavender. And all of them can be used in some form?

      3. Watch this space Mitch. I am still researching so will be interesting to see what inspiration I get. Just written part of another post from an idea I got from a newsletter from a big blogger (my words not his). If only the techie stuff was as easy lol
        Patricia Perth Australia

  8. Two reasons Dennis. One, didn’t want to take the time to do it in this instance because… Two, if anyone was really interested they could just go to the main page & see all of them in a row. Yeah, I usually do a lot of linking, but in this case, since no one would have had to jump around to see all the posts, I didn’t see it as being necessary.

  9. Since I have a “mom blog” and a couple of business-type blogs,an idea for something is always cropping up…

    In fact, my family will now see something or hear something and say, “There’s something for your blog”…..of course they are not always being serious….

    I keep a notebook handy. I also have a note called “Blogging Ideas” on my notepad on my Blackberry. If I’m out and about, I jot a note down there.

    My post listed below was inspired at the breakfast table this morning!

  10. So where did you find the inspiration to write a inspirational post about where you find your inspiration :).
    Real life can be a place full of opportunities for a new blog posts but you have to know where and how to look at the situations. I hope you will always have a keen eye.

    1. Thanks Alex. Inspiration is where it is. Sometimes you don’t want to write about it, such as when you have to go to the bathroom, yet sometimes going to the bathroom will spark something for you to write about.

  12. Inspiration is a very personal thing, and what it works for one person may not work for another. Practically it’s inspiring what you see as inspiring.

  13. I am getting inspiration from my girlfriend, if everything is fine, I am very creative person, if we fight, I do not have power to do anything. This is not good as I really depend on feelings to her.

  14. As a journalist, I am never at a loss for words. As a matter of fact, I have blog posts backed up in storage–so to speak–until I can get to them.

    I think the problem with some bloggers is they try too hard to find the RIGHT WORDS to use when posting. People can get hung up on words. The other problem is some people want to write a blog that will draw lots of attention. If you’re not a baby boomer, or a woman over 40, you’re probably not going to be interested in what I have to say–but that’s OK–because my message is designated for a specific group and if I only have a small number of LOYAL readers, I can live with that.

    1. As a journalist, one would think you learned the art of paying attention to what’s going on around you, and thus inspiration should always be there for you. I tend to think most people get so locked in in their lives that they miss many things that could provide good or great inspiration for them. So you’re right, getting hung up on words becomes a problem for them. Not us; we just write.

  15. Hi Mitch. Thanks for sharing this. It’s kinda hard you know to find inspiration when it’s already stuck. I usually take a stroll around the town if I need to find some inspiration.

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