8 ways to keep your writing blog fresh

A writing blog can be a great tool for independent publishers. It’s a brilliant way for us to promote our work, build a profile, discuss topics of interest and get to know other writers and readers. But as with any type of blog, it can sometimes be hard to keep the content fresh.

We all know that we need to update our blogs regularly as consistency is important, but there is inevitably a point when the well of inspiration starts to run a bit dry. This is usually temporary, as often all you need is a bit of time to pass to give yourself some space to think of new topic ideas or for events to happen that you can write about on your blog. Still, no one likes to be stuck looking at a blank document, knowing they need to write something but not having the faintest idea what. So with this in mind, here are a few ideas you could use to keep your writing blog fresh.

Get a guest post

If you’re finding it hard to fill your blog with interesting new content, you might like to consider asking other writers to complete guest posts for you. For example, you could ask them to write about their own experiences of independent publishing, traditional publishing or anything else relating to their writing career. This can also be a good way to further build your online profile, is good for the guest writers and can provide you with inspiration for future blog posts of your own.

Ask people

When you’re really stuck for ideas but have a blog post due imminently, it can’t hurt to ask for help. For instance, you could put out a message on Twitter asking people what they’d like to see from your blog. That way, you can hopefully get some good new ideas for blog posts and meet reader expectations at the same time. You could even write a special blog post asking people their views.

Do an interview

Do you know another writer? If so, why not interview them and put the interview on your blog? Or you could ask a reader to interview you.

Reflect on previous posts

It could be that since you wrote that blog post about the things you’ve learned from writing or why you like to write first thing in the morning or why you love independent publishing, your views have changed or evolved. Looking back at what you’ve previously written and writing new blog posts updating on the situation can be a good way to develop new content and keep your blog up to date.

Share older, relevant posts

Sometimes, a news item might resonate with a blog post you wrote a while ago. There’s nothing wrong with re-sharing posts from time to time and linking them in to the current situation.

Write about something new

If you’re really stuck for ideas based on your current blog topics, why not try writing about something new? For example, if you’ve only ever written about your own writing, you could branch out into something such as book reviews or another aspect of the industry.

Look at Twitter

Take a look at other writers’ Twitter profiles and see what people are currently writing about on their own blogs or social media platforms. Sometimes all it takes is reading someone else’s view on an issue to inspire a blog post of your own.

Have some time away

Sometimes our blog post inspiration just dries up and the more we think about it, the harder it is to think of something new. Have a bit of time away from your blog – go for a walk, read a book or work on something else for a while.

How do you make sure your writing blog content is always fresh and interesting?