There’s no getting around this simple fact: As human beings, we tend (for whatever reason) to get really bored with just about everything we come in contact with.
Given enough time, the most intriguing things, whether they be people, music, food conversations or anything that our minds can process, will all become extremely boring, if they aren’t broken up by variety and different experiences.
That leaves bloggers in a tight spot, since most every blog (at least every successful blog) makes a living by informing people about one topic. A topic is a singular focus so there aren’t a lot of ways to insert variety into that idea aside from the way in which we present that information.
What inevitably happens is we get bored with what we’re writing.
We all know that a bored writer generally means poor quality writing, as boredom will always mean that we’re somewhat uninspired. But aside from our “human condition” why does this happen?
Let’s try and pull some more practical answers onto the canvas.
Why do we get bored?
- It’s a Job — Familiarity breeds contempt, or in our case, a lackluster form of writer’s block. Blogging is a job and like any job we’re prone to become disgusted, bored and jaded with it, no matter how excited we are about the subject matter.
- It’s a Conversation with…Yourself — When you write about the same topic every day, not only will you run out of things to say, but you’ll stop wanting to say things. The more you talk about a certain topic, the less interesting it becomes to you.
- It’s Repetitive — Because of SEO, best practices and other regulatory powers of the blogosphere and the internet, we’re usually limited to presenting that information in a handful of appropriate ways that don’t change much on a day to day basis. Maybe the next time Google rolls out a Panda or Penguin update we can arrange our bullet points differently, but I wouldn’t count on it.
Does this ever mean we need to switch topics?
In a word, no. As we’ll get into, there are a lot of ways to overcome being bored with your topic aside from just changing it. Not only is that a terrible practice for an established blog, but you’ll eventually get bored with the new topic just the same. So not only have you confused the mess out of your readers, but you’re still bored.
Now it might be the case that your topic simply “ isn’t working out for you” which is entirely possible.
If you find it difficult to write content and stay even remotely interested in what you’re doing, you might want to reach into your bag of tricks and see if there’s another more palatable topic at your disposal. This is especially true for younger blog’s with less to lose. You can still make a change before you’ve developed a loyal readership.
Otherwise, you’d be better off tackling the following list of tips for fighting your topic boredom.
Big Picture Solutions: The “Timeless Truths” of Powering Through Content
I’ve broken these up into two different types of solutions. First we’ll cover the “Big Picture Solutions” and what I’m referring to are solutions that are more so principles than practical applications. These are moral truths that you can keep in mind that will help you push through being bored with your topic. I thought it would be appropriate to cover them first before we got down into the more practical specifics.
- Simply keep your head down. — I don’t want to give you false hope, so I’ll say this right off the cuff: The only way to truly move past the boring periods of your blogging career is to just keep your head down and keep working. The rewards for getting through these points are real and tangible, so keep pushing yourself and you’ll come out of it a stronger writer with a more valuable blog as a result.
- Know that your level of interest will fluctuate regardless of what you do. — Don’t think that your boredom is an unusual thing. It’s perfectly normal. In fact, your interest level will move up and down on a fairly regular basis, as that’s simply the nature of the process.
- The more you work and focus, the more interested you’ll be in what you’re doing. — If you can focus on the task at hand and force that to happen, even if it’s just for a short time, you might find that your interest level in what you’re doing will increase as a result of that focus.
Practical Solutions: Specific things you can do to help get past being bored.
It’s always nice to have specific instruction, so that’s what I’ll attempt to deliver to you here in the form of practical solutions. I do believe there are some specific hands-on manoeuvres you can make that will help keep you interested in your topic and alleviate boredom. Use these tactics at the right time and I’d be willing to bet that you’ll see a spike in your own creative energy and enthusiasm.
- Look at some of your old posts for new post ideas. — Go back and look at posts where you know you were genuinely inspired, particularly if there was a list post or something with a lot of bullet points. Chances are you can easily take one of those bullet points and make them into a brand new post.
- Change up your format by including article, list and case study styled posts. — The style of post you write can help cure both writer’s block and boredom; just keep mixing them up as you go. List posts are popular, and a bit easier to write, but it’s worth considering that they can get monotonous at a quicker pace. Don’t be afraid to mix it up with some posts that are in a more basic article format.
- Don’t just try to write about what you already know. — You have a topic because you’ve proven to be knowledgeable in that area, sure; but that doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know. Don’t limit yourself to just writing about the parts or aspects of that topic that you’re already familiar with. Expand your knowledge and write something new.
- Do some more thorough research on your topic. — In order to make that happen, this is a must for the bored blogger. Slow down, take some time and do some research. You’ll find that there are a lot of interesting ideas and concepts that you could be drawing on that will be more engaging for both you and your readers.
As I’ve already said, the best solution for being bored is just to press through. You’re going to get bored no matter what. How you handle it will determine whether you come out on the other side of that boredom having succeeded or lost ground.
The good news though is that there is an end to every bored spell. Even if you have to take a short break and come back to it, your interest and inspiration will return.
Keep pressing through and working hard. I’m confident that you’ll be glad you did.
Jason Bayless is a professional blogger that gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice. He writes for BestSEOCompanies.com, a nationally recognized SEO Company comparison website.