Five Ways to Avoid Content-Writing Burn-Out

Posted: 02 Jul 2012 06:23 AM PDT

Have you ever sat down at your computer to write a blog post – and ended up staring blankly at the screen? Do you have days when the last thing you want to do is blog?

It's hard to keep on coming up with great blog content – and you might end up writing nothing for days, even weeks. Your readers won't be too impressed by yet another sudden silence, followed by "Sorry I haven't posted for so long…"

Luckily, there are a few great steps you can take to avoid burn-out, or to recover from it:

#1: Write Fewer Posts

If you're struggling to post on a daily basis, then don't – post once or twice a week instead. Most readers would much rather have two great posts a week than seven mediocre ones.

If you're really determined to keep posting on a daily basis, then you could shorten your posts, splitting any long ones into two parts. Bonus: this is a great way to keep readers coming back for more!

#2: Use Standard Structures

You don't need to reinvent the wheel every time you write a blog post. Standard structures or templates can make life much easier, because they give you a framework.

A few tried-and-tested structures include "how-to" posts (a series of steps teaching the reader how to carry out a task), list posts (numbered items), and round-up posts, where you link to great, recent information in your niche.

#3: Spend Time Coming Up With Ideas

Unless you find a blank page inherently inspiring, it's good blogging practice to come up with ideas before you need them. Sure, you'll have days when you wake up with a new idea in mind – but when you're feeling less inspired, you can turn to your list of ideas.

Try setting aside half an hour this week to brainstorm ideas for your blog. Once you get going, you might be surprised how many you can come up with.

#4: Write Guest Posts

This might seem like an odd tip for avoiding content burn-out – but writing guest posts can be a refreshing change of pace. They're also a great way to grow your readership and boost your SEO efforts.

By guest posting for different blogs in your niche, you'll be able to try shifting your writing voice, and you can tackle topics that might fall slightly outside your own blog's scope. Plus, seeing your work published on a big blog can be a huge confidence boost.

#5: Build Up a Stock of Posts

Once you get into a steady blogging rhythm, try to build up a stock of posts. That might mean that you publish two posts a week, for instance, but you write a third and keep it for a future date.

Once you have four or five posts in hand, you're covered for any emergencies – and you can take some time away from your blog, if you want. A week's break from writing can often be a great way to recover any lost motivation or enthusiasm.

So – those are my five tips, but I'm hoping you have some ideas to share too! What do you do to avoid (or recover from) content-writing burn-out? Let us know in the comments…

Ali Luke writes a weekly column on content creation for DailyBlogTips. She has several free blogging/writing ebooks (and other goodies!) available for download from her site, including Ten Powerful Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Stronger.

Original Post: Five Ways to Avoid Content-Writing Burn-Out

Pages

USAHA BERSAMA

Ads 468x60px