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A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

writer's block

Issues in blogging: The eternal fight to find good ideas

November 28, 2012

I can’t lie about this.

Despite having a notebook with a bunch of ideas to blog about, sometimes things don’t flow. Maybe I’m not in a writing mood or it just doesn’t seem to work that day, but there are times I can stare and nothing comes to mind.

Many of the ideas I have written down are more for the future — when I am employed again and have the ability to do some different things. Right now, many of these ideas are just that — ideas.

When that happens, sometimes I turn to Google in the hopes of finding some magical ideas to fill the blog.

That’s when things get interesting.

See, if you aren’t a blogger — or even if you are and have never searched for things like this — you might not realize how many blogs are out there to help you blog.

Seriously.

Doing a quick Google search for “blog ideas” came up with the following places for me to visit:

  • 50 Blogging Ideas to Steal and Take Credit For
  • 25 Blog Ideas That Will Rock Your Readers World!
  • 20 Ideas for Writing a Blog Post
  • 81 Topic Ideas for Starting a Blog that Matters
  • 365 Blog Topics and Journaling Ideas: FREE eBook!

Sheesh!

The best may be when you look through some of these ideas. Ya know, the things you should be blogging about could be any of the following:

  • Lists (after all, people apparently love lists!)
  • How-to posts
  • Reviews
  • Current events
  • Tips
  • Photos

I’m not kidding here, people. There are blogs out there telling bloggers to do these things. In other words, pretty much do what every blogger has done since blogs began. I already do a lot of these things. How does that help?

Digging a bit more on some of these blogs can give some decent tips, though. Items such as carrying a notebook (which I would personally encourage every writer to do — if the idea comes, jot it down) are good pieces of advice, but it doesn’t help with the issue at hand.

See, writer’s get blocked on occasion. It happens. So I’m usually trying to find a way out of said blocks. I don’t want to be told to write a how-to post. I want to find something to give me some inspiration.

Many of these “blog idea” sites also try and sell eBooks or some other thing to prove how great they are. I once purchased an eBook that was written by a blog I frequented. I did it more of as support than anything else, but the idea of it was to help you grow your blog and get more visitors.

That didn’t happen.

Alas, for the $2 or so I spend on the book, I came away with three very important things I use quite often, so it was money well spent. And it only took me a night to read the book.

In the end, personal blogs are often the toughest to do. I know I don’t need to publish something every day, but I like to do so. Even if it’s something silly or whatever. Why? Just because. But by doing so, it sometimes slows things down in regard to the blogging process.

That’s when you get posts like this!

It still amuses me, however, that sometimes people need these sites. If they had some great ideas or something to get the juices flowing, I’d be all about them, too. But it’s basic stuff that any blogger — personal or professional — already knows.

I guess what I’m trying to say is I’m kicking along here. And I need to get some of these ideas flowing. So hopefully a post like this will allow me to get some creative juices flowing a bit more.

If not, I might have to turn this blog into a how-to list on how to blog.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Filed Under: blogging, My world Tagged With: blogging, blogging ideas, finding blog ideas, ideas for blogging, writer's block

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The world of writing — and blocking

May 3, 2012

As far back as I can remember, I’ve been somewhat of a writer.

Rumor is, I used to do it at a young age and slid it under a door to my aunt when she was once visiting. I don’t remember that, but she once told me that.

When I was in high school, writing and English classes were always my strong point. Science and math? I was awful. But I could do very well in the English and writing classes. In fact, by the time I graduated from high school, I was already working and writing for the local weekly newspaper. One of my favorite teachers gave me a leather portfolio to store stories for future use.

Writing was in the future, it appeared.

That continued in college, where getting through basic algebra classes required me utilizing some others in class to try and explain things on a more simple level. Thankfully, I did well enough to allow those grades to transfer from the two-year school I first attended to my eventual four-year school.

When I got to my second college, five years or so later, I was told I needed to take four semesters of a foreign language. I never had to do it in high school, so I was a bit worried. Those four classes were some of the hardest I ever took. I went with French because I enjoy traveling to Montreal and thought it would come in handy.

You know what I found out?

I read and wrote it better than I spoke or understood it. Go figure.

If you check out the archives on this site, you’ll see it dates to 2005. And when checking that drop-down menu, you’ll see months and such with a number after in parentheses. That number shows the amount of posts for that certain month. Over the years, the posts go up and down and such. But I’ve always found a way to write. And it’s come naturally.

Obviously, there needs to be a point to all of this, right?

Kind of.

Part of the reason of this post is to write. I’ve recently — likely because of having this site and the Rattling Chains blog — been hitting a roadblock with writing. I’ve struggled. But it’s also in part because I have a few writing projects I’m slowly working on that I am really excited about. And that’s been in my mind.

See, I have the chance to write a few in-depth pieces on some people I’ve met over the past couple of years.

One of those will easily make a book if I do it right. The other I’m hoping to turn into a Kindle Single or something along those lines. It will take a lot of work, dedication and time. But I look forward to it.

Here’s the thing — I don’t expect to get rich off any of it. As a writer, like many others, my dream has been to write a book. I’m not concerned about making millions. I’m concerned about doing it right, telling the full story and, in the end, having something I’m proud to call my own. Will it get picked up by a publisher? Will I self-publish? Who knows. But the goal, truthfully, would be just to do it and then go from there.

See, I write because it’s what I do. I watch as people I graduated with have successful careers and do other things in this world. I’m an out-of-work journalist who sees more and more from my field be in the same position each week. It’s a tough market and it’s tougher by the day.

But I write. No matter why I was one who got this “skill,” I did. And though riches won’t likely follow, it’s what I do. But I write because it’s what I do. And it is who I am.

Of course, during all of this, I am still taking a lot of time to apply for jobs, interview when I get to that point, and search for more jobs. That is a full-time job in its own right.

Add all of these together and it can lead for a lot of writing things going through my mind!

I guess the point of this post is to let the readers of this blog know what’s up. That’s why, sometimes, you’ll see me go a day or two extra without a post. The readership of this blog isn’t through the roof, but those of you who do come and visit, I appreciate and want to keep in the “loop,” per say.

The two projects I want to do likely won’t start for a little while. I need to make sure I have everything lined up. But you can bet that during the process, I’ll be giving clips and such here on the blog. Why wouldn’t I, right?

Now to the final reason for this post.

It may seem like it was a random post full of nothing but ideas and such. But in the end, it was also a way for me to put everything out there. To get my thoughts on paper. As you can see, I have a lot of things rolling around in my melon. So hopefully this will help me organize those things, get a plan and attack.

The reality is, I have time to do a lot of these things. I just need to make it work. It doesn’t have to be a full-time job to have side writing projects — as I’ve proved (I’ve done blogs while employed and my job hunt is a full-time job now, so I do the writing when done with those things each day). And, I just need to figure out how to get my thoughts out there on one subject and get through this whole blocking thing.

So the reality was this post is hopefully therapeutic. And I thank you for getting through this and “listening!”

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook! 

Filed Under: My world, Writing Tagged With: blog writing, book writing, just writing, life, work, writer's block, writing, writing about life, writing anything

2 Comments

I’m spent!

November 28, 2011

Sheesh!

I have to be honest that I’ve become an empty can when it comes to blog topics. There have been some that have been floating around this brain, but the process of doing them will take a while.

Is this blogging block, instead of writer’s block? Blogging brain cramps? Blogger Block?

It’s such a block that I can’t even be clever!

Then there are some of the Day Zero Project ideas and things like that, but I don’t want to do that every day!

So what else is out there?

I’m currently working on a few other “Geocaching 101” items. I did the big post about it not too long ago, but I want to expand for some people who might be interested in geocaching and want to know other things, such as travel bugs/geocoins, pathtags, events and things like that. Hopefully I’ll have one of those posts later this week.

There’s the job hunt, but I can only write about that so much without it becoming boring… yawn! Maybe when I get better news?

Who knew, at times, that it would be so hard to come up with blog subjects?

Argh!

So I come to you, the readers — do you have any ideas?

I’m going to keep my Snapshot Saturday, of course. Then I think I’m going to start adding a “Photo of the Week” post, but I haven’t decided which day I will post it on. It’s going to be a random photo that I’ve taken.

So that leaves a lot of open spots.

I have a lot of disc golf things, but I’m working on a project with that and can’t really use that stuff here. But I will have a few other disc golf things at times.

OK, I admit that this was a cheesy post for the day. Really, I know. But, it works two ways. It gets me writing for the day and gives a blog, AND, maybe it will end up giving me some more things to eventually write about!

So if you have ideas, pop them in the comments section. If not, I’ll keep plugging along and hopefully snap out of this blogging funk soon enough.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook by clicking the button on the right side of the page!

Filed Under: blogging, My world Tagged With: blog, blogging, blogs, writer's block

2 Comments

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hoohaa29

Writer who loves images just as much as words! In search of perfectly poured pints of Guinness and great hot dogs. Find me on twitter @softball29.

Couldn’t resist stopping on the way to work too Couldn’t resist stopping on the way to work too quickly snap some photos of this scene. Hamden Covered Bridge. #bridge #coveredbridge #hamden #snow #winter #instagood #photooftheday #happy #picoftheday #fun #igers #bestoftheday #life #photo #iphonesia #igdaily #iphoneonly #love #beautiful #photography
A nice day to get out for a hike, grab a #geocache A nice day to get out for a hike, grab a #geocache and place a few. Felt good abs here’s hoping for a much better year!
Thought this wax seal came out pretty well! #waxse Thought this wax seal came out pretty well! #waxsealstamp #waxseal #waxseals #card #mail #snailmail
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PhilliesPhiladelphia Phillies@Phillies·
17 Feb

Folks,,,,

🚨 We’ve got pitchers and catchers. 🚨

4
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softball29P.J.@softball29·
10 Feb

I wrote this about Sam Nader during a public celebration of his 100th birthday. I'm sure I'll have something more in the next day or so as well, but this covers a lot about my thoughts of this amazing man. RIP, Sam. You'll be missed.

https://hoohaa.com/?p=14292

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softball29P.J.@softball29·
1 Feb

New blog post: Photo Blogging Challenge (January 2021): Change and hope #photography #blogging #photoblogchal https://hoohaa.com/?p=15164

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