Magic Monday: The Posting Conundrum

Amber here, with a little organizational "magic" for my blogging buddies!

Productive Poster Pills

Description of Illness: It's another week, and you're running out of post ideas. Call it "writer's block" or whatever you will, but no brilliant ideas are coming to you, and you're worried. Or perhaps you do have plenty of ideas, but you're running short on time or reader interest. Either way, a little organization can be a big help!

Treatment: Here are some ways you as a blogger can be organized and productive -

• Themed Weeks: For those who have run out of ideas, themed weeks can be your ticket to creativity! What is it you and your readers are interested in? Mysteries? Vampires? Food? Pick a topic and center your posts around that. You can do book or movie reviews based on the topic (which can help you choose your next book from your TBR stack!), giveaways (readers love 'em!), author interviews, themed devotionals, fun polls... With a certain theme/topic in mind, you have a foundation for the coming week. And of course, you can always plan them ahead of time, invite your friends, and make it an event to look forward to! (By the same token, weekly memes can help you keep on track!)
  

• Scheduled Posts: For those who have a hard time keeping up with blogging, it can be helpful to schedule posts in advance. When you're creating a new post in Blogger, click on "Post Options" in the lower left-hand corner of the template. Now in the lower right-hand corner you should see "Post date and time." Just enter in the date and time you want your post to be posted, and you're good to go! So whenever you have a free weekend or some extra time on your hands, you can save some posts for a rainy (or busy) day. ;)

• Research: When you're getting ready to put together an author interview post, it can sometimes help to do a little bit of research. Make sure you're asking questions that make sense...ones that pertain to the genre the author writes in, and maybe some questions that specifically center around their latest book. And be sure to ask fun/unique questions - the kind that you and your readers would really like to know the author's response to!
  

Recommended For: Bloggers of all ages.

Dosage: If you're a blogger in need of some new ideas, take the first pill/option. If you're a blogger always on the go, take that second pill/option. If you're a book blogger, the third pill/option could be helpful!

A Spoonful of Sugar: Post with passion. "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down," as Mary Poppins says. So make your posts fun and encouraging for both you and your readers. Don't let blogging become a drudgery. If it comes to that, maybe you need a break from blogging for a while. Or maybe you need to remind yourself why you blog. Because if you're blogging about what you love, then I think you'll love blogging!

It's just like . . . magic.

Disclaimer:

*I don't claim to fix all areas of your life - or any, for that matter. I'm just giving you some food for thought on how you might keep from pulling your hair out as deadlines and such loom over you. Side effects may include dizziness and fainting spells due to intense relief, and uncontrollable shouts of joy. Not recommended for those who strongly dislike organized people and label them "neat freaks" and other cruel names.*