There are many ways to set yourself free if you get stuck with the Writer’s block, and in the age of the World Wide Web most of these solutions are just a mouse-click away. Many of these solutions are individual specific, and might work for some while being completely ineffective for others.

There is, however, one solution that I feel can work for almost everyone.

The solution is using writing prompts. The world prompt literally means,  “to move or induce to action” and a writing prompt can be defined as, “a statement or group of statements about a specific topic, constructed to motivate thoughts and elicit good writing.”

Using a prompt is like turning the ignition in a car. Your mind refuses to come up with a thought of its own, so you provided it with an external thought to work with. The simplest prompt can be anything lying on your table. Let’s say it is a pen. You can start writing about the first time you used a pen, your favourite pen, any funny incident you were involved in that also included a pen, and the possibilities are endless.

I have usually found prompts to be quite helpful. I use the idea for one of my blogs, and that provides me with a constant stream of ideas to write about on that blog.

If, for some reason, you find it difficult to come up with writing prompts for yourself, there are a few sites that can help you with that too. Here are a few that you might find useful:

1. Creative Writing Prompt
2. Writer’s Digest
3. Writing Fix
4. Language is a Virus

Do you use writing prompts to help you write regularly?

If you have been blogging on a regular basis, over a long enough period of time, you must have had days when you have run out of ideas.  You cannot write a post, even if your very life was depending on it.  The reasons for this phenomenon could be many, but the existence of this phenomenon is undeniable.

Here are a few steps that could help in such a situation:

1. Prevention, I am sure you have heard, is better than cure. This may sound like no advice at all, but as far as possible avoid getting into a position where you have to search for ideas. Plan most of your posts in advance, so that there is no last minute rush – and accompanying panic – to come up with a blog post.

2. Writing on a regular basis and to a schedule is another important ingredient to successful blogging or, for that matter, successful writing. If, like me, blogging is not the source of your bread and butter, then it would be best if you work out a schedule for yourself where you set aside an hour every day for writing. You could devote more time, but ensure that you spend at least an hour every day writing.

3. Read some blogs from your own niche. Identify some blogs in your own niche that you like, and that stay up to date with the latest news and information about the things that you write about. This is not  an advice to copy content from other blogs, but to know about the latest happenings and news. Equipped with that knowledge, you can go ahead and offer your own unique perspective about the issues on your blog.

4. Become an Expert. The fundamental questions is : Why should anyone come to your blog? The answer is pretty obvious. You have something to offer that they may not easily find anywhere else. By becoming an expert on the subject you write about, you  increase the amount of information that you have, and that you can share with others on your blog. If you observe, most successful bloggers are really good at doing the things they write about.

5. Guest blogging. When you have absolutely nothing to write about, a good idea could be to have someone post as a guest blogger. Guest blogging is not only an effective tool to build networking and backlinks (and we know how bloggers are crazy for those two things), but also provide a change for the readers who might begin to get a little bored from your regular style of writing. Variety, after all, is the spice of life, and your blog could do with a little spice.

What do you do when you run out of ideas? Do you have any ideas of your own that you would like to share?