Follow These 3 Tips To Never Run Out of Writing Ideas

09 Sep 2024 #writing

Running out of ideas is the greatest fear of new writers.

But don’t worry. You’re not running out of ideas. You have plenty of them. You need to be aware of the content you consume and have writing prompts to help you write.

Here are 3 tips to never run out of ideas to write:

1. Become a DJ of Ideas

There’s nothing new under the sun. And it has all been done before.

That’s relieving and reassuring. That removes the self-imposed pressure of coming up with new and original ideas.

Never start from scratch again. Develop your “new” ideas by remixing and expanding your past ideas or others’ ideas. Become a DJ producer of ideas.

If you think you’re running out of ideas, go through your posts, videos, or social feed and write a reaction post about one piece of content.

2. Follow the 20-Min Rule

If something takes you 20 minutes or more to figure out, write about it.

This is the prompt I’ve used to write some of my coding tutorials. Once I figure out how to do something after being stuck for a while, I write about it.

I wish I could credit the source of this rule. I remember learning about it from an old YouTube presentation about technical blogging that I can’t find anymore.

So if you have an aha moment, write about it. If you finally understood a hard subject, write about it.

By writing about your learning struggles, you will reinforce and document your learning.

3. Follow the 3-Strike Rule

If a subject or idea comes up at least three times around you, write about it.

I found this idea on Shawn Wang (swyx)’s blog in the context of technical blogging. But it can be easily extended outside the coding world too.

If another client asks you the same question, write about it. And if you give the same piece of advice to someone, guess what? Write about it.

With the 3-strike rule, you’re also saving your keystrokes. After 3 strikes, the next time the same subject comes up, just share a link to your writing.

Now, you’re not running out of ideas again. It’s impossible. Notice the content you’re consuming and write about it.