Get Ideas for New Articles
Get Ideas for New Articles
Writers know that ideas are everywhere. Everywhere! Even so, we sometimes feel the well is dry. We look around and don't see the ideas in front of us. Check the places listed below, and see if you can dig up some new "dirt" for your articles.
Your own website or blog. Recently, I decided to revamp my website. I was changing colors, layout, etc. I wanted to go from lists of tips to articles. That was the perfect place to look for article ideas. I looked at the tips, pulled some related ones together, made them more cohesive, and bam! There's an article. Sometimes, I would have one lone tip that didn't seem to have the potential for a whole article, even a short one. Then, I did an internet search with some of the key terms from that tip. It always inspired me to come up with an article. I used the single tip as a springboard for something larger. If you don't have a website with tips, then do a keyword search for other people's tips, and you, too will be inspired to expand and rewrite until you have a complete article.
Google Alerts. Google alerts inspire me in two ways. After I write an article for an article directory, I set up a Google alert for it. When the Google alerts roll in, I always skim them to see where my articles are popping up. I usually visit the site, unless I've already been alerted to it on a previous day. This is inspiration number one. If I have the time and inclination, I look around on the site. Sometimes I'll get ideas for more articles. It helps me see what my audience may be interested in. If they picked up my article and others, I know what they want. Maybe I can get them to pick up another one. Another way Google alerts have inspired another article is by looking at what else is listed on my alert. Sometimes the alert has dragged in all sorts of non-related articles, but many times the other articles give me an idea for something new. They have different perspectives on a similar topic. If it was good enough for someone else to write, then it is certainly good enough for me.
Magazines. Whether paper or online, magazines (or e-zines) are full of articles written by other freelancers just like us. They have great ideas, and I'm not suggesting you copy them. You can, however, brainstorm on their ideas. Let me give you some examples. I love family/women's magazines, so I'm a big fan of Family Circle. I read lots of tips in there (so this is similar to my first suggestion above.) One time, I saw a suggestion from a Family Circle reader about how she keeps a box of school supplies in her van, so her kids can do their homework anywhere, at any time. Perfect! It got me thinking about articles like these: How to Be Prepared for Homework - Anywhere, Anytime; How to Set Up Your Mobile Office; What To Do During Soccer Practice; How Much Should a Parent Help Her Child with Homework? You get the idea. Read a tip or an article, then write down every little idea you get when you think about the topic. Here's one more thing I have done, though not often. I find an article online that I think I can do better, or that I can expand. I look at the article while I'm writing, being sure that I'm completely rewording and reorganizing the information. I recently did this with a list. It was a list on someone's blog (appeared on a Google alert) that I thought was flawed. I thought I could do better. So I re-wrote the article from my perspective, using some of the ideas from the original list. I put them in a different order, added more things, and didn't use the same wording. The idea was someone else's, but I wrote it my way. You can do the same thing with magazine articles.
Old Writing Projects. Do you ever clean out your old writing files? Instead of throwing things away completely, how about making a new file folder just for old ideas that didn't work. You may want to go through it occasionally and reuse the ideas. Maybe the way you wrote an article originally was never accepted by a publisher, but if you rewrite it or use the idea as a springboard for a new article, you will find success. I was able to take some of my ideas and split them up into smaller articles. I may eventually paste them back together and submit them again. Sometimes, time and a new perspective are all those old projects need to make them look new and shiny. So, dust off the old files, and start looking for something you can spend a few minutes reworking. Then send it out.
What other ideas inspire you? Let me know. That's one more place you can get great article ideas. Use the comments and questions of others to spark a new article.
Writers know that ideas are everywhere. Everywhere! Even so, we sometimes feel the well is dry. We look around and don't see the ideas in front of us. Check the places listed below, and see if you can dig up some new "dirt" for your articles.
Your own website or blog. Recently, I decided to revamp my website. I was changing colors, layout, etc. I wanted to go from lists of tips to articles. That was the perfect place to look for article ideas. I looked at the tips, pulled some related ones together, made them more cohesive, and bam! There's an article. Sometimes, I would have one lone tip that didn't seem to have the potential for a whole article, even a short one. Then, I did an internet search with some of the key terms from that tip. It always inspired me to come up with an article. I used the single tip as a springboard for something larger. If you don't have a website with tips, then do a keyword search for other people's tips, and you, too will be inspired to expand and rewrite until you have a complete article.
Google Alerts. Google alerts inspire me in two ways. After I write an article for an article directory, I set up a Google alert for it. When the Google alerts roll in, I always skim them to see where my articles are popping up. I usually visit the site, unless I've already been alerted to it on a previous day. This is inspiration number one. If I have the time and inclination, I look around on the site. Sometimes I'll get ideas for more articles. It helps me see what my audience may be interested in. If they picked up my article and others, I know what they want. Maybe I can get them to pick up another one. Another way Google alerts have inspired another article is by looking at what else is listed on my alert. Sometimes the alert has dragged in all sorts of non-related articles, but many times the other articles give me an idea for something new. They have different perspectives on a similar topic. If it was good enough for someone else to write, then it is certainly good enough for me.
Magazines. Whether paper or online, magazines (or e-zines) are full of articles written by other freelancers just like us. They have great ideas, and I'm not suggesting you copy them. You can, however, brainstorm on their ideas. Let me give you some examples. I love family/women's magazines, so I'm a big fan of Family Circle. I read lots of tips in there (so this is similar to my first suggestion above.) One time, I saw a suggestion from a Family Circle reader about how she keeps a box of school supplies in her van, so her kids can do their homework anywhere, at any time. Perfect! It got me thinking about articles like these: How to Be Prepared for Homework - Anywhere, Anytime; How to Set Up Your Mobile Office; What To Do During Soccer Practice; How Much Should a Parent Help Her Child with Homework? You get the idea. Read a tip or an article, then write down every little idea you get when you think about the topic. Here's one more thing I have done, though not often. I find an article online that I think I can do better, or that I can expand. I look at the article while I'm writing, being sure that I'm completely rewording and reorganizing the information. I recently did this with a list. It was a list on someone's blog (appeared on a Google alert) that I thought was flawed. I thought I could do better. So I re-wrote the article from my perspective, using some of the ideas from the original list. I put them in a different order, added more things, and didn't use the same wording. The idea was someone else's, but I wrote it my way. You can do the same thing with magazine articles.
Old Writing Projects. Do you ever clean out your old writing files? Instead of throwing things away completely, how about making a new file folder just for old ideas that didn't work. You may want to go through it occasionally and reuse the ideas. Maybe the way you wrote an article originally was never accepted by a publisher, but if you rewrite it or use the idea as a springboard for a new article, you will find success. I was able to take some of my ideas and split them up into smaller articles. I may eventually paste them back together and submit them again. Sometimes, time and a new perspective are all those old projects need to make them look new and shiny. So, dust off the old files, and start looking for something you can spend a few minutes reworking. Then send it out.
What other ideas inspire you? Let me know. That's one more place you can get great article ideas. Use the comments and questions of others to spark a new article.
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