Finding Inspiration

As many of you know, I have been posting this blog for my current class, Interactive Project Management. As part of my assignment, I need to post three times a week. I used to think that posting numerous blogs on various topics wouldn't be that difficult. After all, Seinfeld managed to do a show about nothing for how many years?

Photo by Peter Junno

However, like most writers, I have found myself subject to writer’s block occasionally with this blog and thought it might be a good idea to think about where I could find my inspiration. Truth be told, this thought was hastened along by article written by Mark Schaefer on www.ragan.com entitled, “Shut Up and Blog: How to Create Endless Ideas for Content.” In this article, Schaefer says that people can develop blog topics by just being observant to those things around them and thinking about what others are asking them. In short, he says, “Consider how the emotion from that moment can be translated into a blog post. And then write it down!”

So I first thought I should look at places and times when I typically find inspiration. For me, in the shower or while I'm driving are the two best places that I find inspiration. Not necessarily because of the scenery (especially in the shower!) but because I have a chance to free my mind from other clutter. Yes, I may be concentrating on changing lanes or lathering my hair, but my mind can wander to other places and ideas. Unfortunately, neither of these places exactly lend themselves to a convenient way of writing things down immediately.

Retrieved from
 http://fjorn1.deviantart.com/art/Dream-Torn-Paper-Wallpaper-376594877.

The best times for me to develop ideas is right as I fall asleep or even in my dreams. Many of my dreams are good for science fiction as I have really, really bizarre ones. I once dreamt of a lunatic veterinarian that implanted a Saint Bernard with something that allowed the dog to give birth to a clone of his deceased son. Talk about a weird dream but oh, what a cool science fiction story though. Over the years I have kept a dream journal so I can write those thoughts down and continue to be amazed and surprised at what the subterranean parts of my brain will conjure up while I'm enjoying some well-deserved REM sleep.

Next I thought about topics that typically help me find inspiration. As you've seen in my posts, my pets, friends and family seem to drift to the top. Why? Simple. They are the most important things to me and therefore, on my mind quite a bit. Don't worry, I won't write a novella about how stinky my dog is after coming home from a play date with the neighbor dog down the street. I may, however, have to post something about how smart he is sometime though. 

And today, I drew inspiration on finding inspiration. I guess Schaefer is correct in that you can look almost anywhere to see something that might lead you to writing a blog on the topic.