Topic Idea Generation

Being a writer is not as glamorous as a lot of people think. Sometimes after writing for some time, coming up with more topic ideas is not as easy as it looks. But getting your inspiration and keeping track of ideas is part of the deal. And completely necessary if you want to earn any credibility as a writer or blogger.

For inspiration, I read. A lot! Not just about writing but also entrepreneurship, marketing, PR, blogging, social media, food, wine, coffee, travel and more. I think my only free reading right now is the comic strip email with Calvin and Hobbs and Garfield I receive every day. So it's a good thing these are topics I am enthusiastic about. Like I said in my previous post on finding your niche, this is one of those reasons why your niche should be your passion.

As for keeping track of the ideas I gleam off of reading magazines, blogs, websites and books on these topics, I like to use index cards and an index card box. Since I have two blogs I have two boxes. I also use sticky tabs in my notebooks to remind me of the research I may have done on any specific topic. But research will be for another post. Index cards though are a great way to jot down the topic and label the other side for which blog or section they would fall under. I also have specific apps on my phone that enable me to jot down other types of notes when the need arises. That way when I need a topic, I can pull a card out of the box and find my back research in my notebooks easily before sitting down to write.

One thing I hadn't mentioned as a way to generate more topic ideas is to travel. Going to a coastal town, a destination of interest or to just experience the culture often opens up your creative energies and gets the ideas flowing freely. I, myself, have a few lists of where I want to travel and corresponding route maps for each type of travel. For instance, I have a food route for specific countries, a literary route, a wine route and most recently an over whelming desire to travel to India. But you will have to stay tuned to learn more about traveling for writing or my adventures abroad.

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