To the article writer, finding new and creative articles to write is the lifeblood of their industry. It is the beginning and end of their paycheck, and being able to find them quickly and efficiently is the most important talent an article writer can have. If you have been writing for long at all, you have probably experienced that moment where you could swear that you have exhausted every single article idea on the planet. That moment is when you either set yourself apart from the rest of the article writers, or you give up. Rather than give up, let me share with you twenty methods of generating article ideas that will help you the next time you run into this article writing problem.
1. Go to Google Trends - This is a list of the hottest search terms on the Internet each day. A great place to generate article ideas.
2. Take a walk in the woods or park - While a simple walk may seem silly, you would be amazed at how your mind will wander and think of ideas. Nature does that to a person.
3. Have a word brainstorming session - Sit down and start writing random words blankly. Do not think about what you are writing. Just write. Once you have done this for several minutes go back and look at the words. You will see an idea or two for sure.
4. Surf your television channels - Do not surf for anything in particular at all, and do not stop and watch something instead of writing. Surf with the idea of finding article ideas.
5. Call a friend and ask them if they have been interested in any news stories lately. If so, find out about them and write about them.
6. Go through your kitchen cabinets and look at your food. Usually an article idea is waiting there.
7. Spend a moment looking through Yahoo Answers - The answers here are sometimes good, and sometimes bad. The questions are where the article ideas are. Find one and answer it.
8. Check out Helium Title Finder - This is a great way to generate an idea or two. Surf around the titles and find one that fits you.
9. Read Magazines and Newspapers - Reading generates thoughts and opinions. Anything that makes you think gives you inspiration to write.
10. Look around the Romow Directory - Our very own website and directory is a wonderful way to stimulate the creative juices.
11. Take a shower - Again, it will refresh the mind and open it up to more article writing possibilities.
12. Use Google Adwords Keyword Tool - Not only will this help you generate article ideas, but they will be with good paying keywords and phrases. Learn to use the power of the keyword.
13. Go to Hubpages Requests - This is one of the best places to find an article idea or two. There is always something somebody wants to know, and you can use those ideas to generate your own.
14. Visit a local museum - While this is not always practical with a deadline looming, neither is sitting for hours staring at a blank screen or page. Take a notebook and visit someplace that is loaded with article ideas.
15. Go to old faithful - Every single writer has a niche that they can write on anytime at all, and yours is your saving grace. When you can not write anything else, you should go to that niche and dig deeper. It will get the juices flowing.
16. Spend some time with your kids - Children have a way of making you think in a different way. Thinking in a different way is a catalyst to great writing. Spend some time talking with the kids about anything and watch the ideas come.
17. Play the alphabet game - Simply start with a blank page and write a word or phrase that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Once finished, you should have some great starting points. Begin with each word and expand the thought. You will be surprised at the ideas that come.
18. Look at your local police blotter - There are a number of sources online that can take you to your local police blotter. Just put your city and state into the search engine and the term “police blotter” and it should take you there. Crime is a great subject to generate an article or two.
19. Open that old encyclopedia - Simply grab any volume and open it randomly. Then begin reading. You will find that if you read with article ideas in mind, you will find that golden nugget right in the middle of that reference book.
20. Go outside your comfort zone - This is the number one way to generate article ideas in my opinion. So many people write on the same things over and over. Learn about something new and write about it! There is an ocean of possibilities out there, and you are just the one to write an article about each and every one of them.
