31 August 2015

Out of Coffee, Out of Ideas

Our supply of K-cups is getting dangerously low and since it's the dreaded "every bill is due" week, I have zero money to spare. Yeah, I have a credit card, but I'd like to stop using it for a while until I can pay a good chunk of the balance off. So there's a good chance I will actually run out of coffee within the next few days.

Sometimes you run out of things. Toothpaste, cat food, time, money, patience. You probably run out of at least one thing every day. What I always seem to be running out of is ideas. Novel ideas, poem ideas, blog post ideas. That happens just about every single time I have to write a blog post. I have no clue. I can only write about the fact that I'm not writing so many times without annoying people or repeating myself. I've even talked about running out of ideas before, and here I am again. But what do you write about when there's nothing to write about?

The first thing I figured I had to do was to go a little easier on myself. If I don't feel like blogging three times a week, no one is going to care. It's ok to take off a Friday now and then. Not every blog post has to be this great revelation or writing tip that's going to make a huge impact on everyone, either. It's ok to ramble, too. You can tell people about your vacation or your pets or just anything that's going on in your life.

I actually started to have a good idea today, but I figured it would be better suited for Wednesday's IWSG post, so I'm saving it. I like to hoard my good ideas for the right days. Like if I actually do happen to come up with a great writing tip post idea, that's a good post for a Monday. Something silly or more personal may be better for a Friday. There's a lot of timing and planning involved, even if it's on a day by day basis.

But more often than not, I'm coming up with my post ideas the day I'm supposed to post them. It's hard to keep up. This happens with a lot of things, actually. I'm usually too busy doing one thing to even think about another. So maybe I run out of time more often than I run out of ideas. Or I just don't have the time to come up with ideas. Who knows?

I guess I'll just tackle one goal at a time, one day at a time. And enjoy the coffee while I have it.

12 comments:

  1. I notice the most blog traffic during the beginning of the week, especially Monday. And IWSG day is always huge. :)

    Savor that coffee!

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  2. You'll be out of coffee? NOOOOO!

    I think you should really consider cutting back on blog posts. That way you won't struggle for post ideas as much and you may actually get more when you're not worrying about posting as often.

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  3. What Chrys said. That's why I only post once a week. And Mondays are the busiest, with the exception of the IWSG post day.

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  4. Right now I have an over abundance of posts written and ready to go. This week I'm going to have posts every day because I have my normal Monday post, tomorrow is #writemotivation, Wednesday is IWSG and I have a cover reveal Thursday. But then it will switch and I will have no ideas on what to say. I flip flop.

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  5. One thing at a time is a good idea. I find the more I try to take on the more I make mistakes. I cut way back on a lot, but I'm still overwhelmed and am going to take a look at my schedule to see what else I need to stop doing so frequently. Good luck. Let us know how that coffee tastes.

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  6. I wish I could follow your credit card mantra...sigh! =) I hope the coffee holds out for you! I'm more of a pop a day(or several) kind of girl. And I always enjoy your 'just talking' posts, I should do more like that.

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  7. *sends more coffee and hugs* It's all good, you go, sister! You got this life thing, it'll turn out okay. How empty does that sound?! But it really is true. ;)

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  8. As far as the coffee goes, you could try swagbucks.com and sign up for an account. You can fill out online surveys or watch videos and earn swagbucks; once you accumulate enough, you can cash them in for Starbucks gift cards (I've earned hundreds of dollars in gift cards that way). It can be kind of time consuming, but you can put as much time into it as you want and earn a little extra money that way. If it wasn't for Swagbucks I'd probably never be able to go to Starbucks.

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  9. I cannot imagine running out of coffee. It's about the only thing I drink, albeit decaf most of the time.

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  10. Right, I kind of want your address so I can send you K-cups! lol I'm running low on my T-Discs, but I also have two packages of coffee, so I can just use my French press.

    That's why I took a 2-month break and then cut down my posts. My mind has been so busy lately, I can't even focus on one thing for like 10 minutes.

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  11. I have to agree with some of the others - dropping to one post a week might be good for you. And I know I've mentioned it before, but Flash Fiction contests are great for sparking new ideas when you're stuck.

    Fingers crossed on the coffee front too.

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  12. I've been on that downward trajectory for quite some time now. More often than not, I write my posts the day before. Many years ago I used to write them up to three weeks in advance (back when I was posting three to four times a week). Now I still post three to four times a week, but the four is when ISWG pops up. Otherwise it's twice a week on my main blog and once a week on my recap blog.

    Father Nature's Corner

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