Many of you may have this notion that coming up with blog ideas to write on my blog is easy peasy for me.

Believe me, it will be a wonderful situation to have.

But alas, I’m no different from everyone else whose blogging is the lifeblood of their business.

One moment, I have a lot of blog ideas to write about on this blog. But for some reason, I’m running dry on what I should write on my fiction author blog.

The same situation can happen in reverse too where I have a lot of things to write about on my fiction author blog but nothing much to say on this blog.

Sure, having a clear idea of what your blog is all about and your target audience can help with brainstorming the blog post ideas.

But even with that in mind, it can still be a constant struggle to come up with blog ideas for your blog.

It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been blogging for a decade or just starting out, we will experience running out of ideas to write about at some point.

Maybe this one can help you with coming up with blog ideas to write about

Don’t know what next topic to write about on your blog?

Well, just ask ChatGPT, Bard, or Claude and they will suggest what blog topic you should write based on your vague ideas.

That should settle the problem for you, right?

Yes, you’re right. The chatbot can spare you from the hassle of having to crack your head for blog ideas.

But my issue with those topics that the chatbot suggested is that they feel too generic for me.

And it doesn’t sound like a fun topic to write too.

Sure, any good writer can make the blog post feel like you’re reading fiction even if the topic you’re talking about is serious and mundane.

But no matter how prolific you are as a writer, it can still be hard to make a serious and mundane topic an entertaining read.

So, does it mean using a chatbot to brainstorm blog ideas is a total dud?

Not at all, of course.

I still believe that the chatbot itself has its place in your brainstorming session.

It’s just unfortunate that I don’t know how to fully utilize the chatbot the right way.

This is something that I want to explore some other time. But in the meantime, I’ll just stick to the old-fashioned way of brainstorming ideas for now.

The old-fashioned ways of coming up with blog ideas to write about for your blog

Okay, I admit that the old-fashioned ways of brainstorming ideas aren’t sexy. And it can take quite a bit of your time to find the best topics for your blog too.

But guess what? I still find it to be way better than asking the chatbot for blog post ideas.

So, what are the old-fashioned, slowpoke ways of coming up with a blog topic to write then?

Well, here are the ones that I tend to swear by.

Come up with a fixed topic

This is a staple blog post where you will always have it on your blog every week or month.

It can be something like a blog roundup where you curate other interesting posts or articles you find on a single blog post.

Or you can take it from my own playbook where I have a dedicated post solely for deals that my audience doesn’t want to miss.

I have the same type of blog post not just on this blog. But I have the same post concept on my fiction author blog too.

When you have at least one fixed topic on your blog, you have one less blog topic to think about.

If you’re blogging every week, then you will only need to come up with three or four blog posts to write during that month.

Of course, it doesn’t need to be a deal post or a blog roundup. Use your creativity to come up with a staple post that works for your audience.

Write about the issues that caught your attention or what’s bugging you

If you’re a sensitive soul, I’m sure you have a lot of things that caught your attention or simply bugged you for whatever reason.

It can be something like social media isn’t as glitzy as it seems. Or it can be something like Wattpad may not be that helpful when it comes to building buzz around your writing.

Whatever things you have in mind, they’re nonetheless the topics that are worth considering for your blog.

Just be sure that they’re the topics your audience will find interesting, though.

There’s no point in talking about the unrealistic beauty standard that the media imposed on everyone when your blog is about running a retail business.

If you need a place to vent out your random thoughts, then save it for places like Medium.

No matter how well-written the blog post is, it won’t do your blog any good if it doesn’t represent what your blog stands for.

Write about the changes you’re making in your business

While this kind of topic is perfect for a nonfiction blog, you can consider this blog topic for your fiction-related blog as well.

It doesn’t have to be something so business-ey.

It can be things like your next book will be in a different genre than your previous one. Or it can be something like why you’re going cold turkey on social media.

Yes, this kind of post can make you a little vulnerable.

But people enjoy reading this kind of post when you’re being honest about something.

Just remember not to cross way too many boundaries in the name of brutal honesty.

There’s a thing called TMI, you know?

Check your blog for any topic you have yet to cover

We all have this moment where we feel like we want to explore or expand the topic more once we nailed down the first part of the topic.

But for some reason, we forgot about it after some time.

If that’s you, then it doesn’t hurt to go through your blog once again and try to rekindle the topics that you didn’t get to explore in the past.

This is the one thing where no chatbot can help you with brainstorming blog post ideas.

You have to do a little detective work here and there to find out what else you have yet to cover on this particular topic.

Update your existing blog posts

If all else fails, then there’s nothing wrong with going back to your old blog post and giving it a facelift.

I’m sure that your perception about a certain issue may already change over the years.

Or perhaps your writing process isn’t like what it used to be and it’s time for you to share your updated process with your audience.

The good thing about updating your existing blog post is that you don’t have to look elsewhere for a new topic to write about.

It can help with your overall SEO for your blog too, which is a plus if you want the blog to do well on the search engine.

It’s not the hardest part

Believe it or not, coming up with the blog posts to write isn’t the hardest part of blogging at all.

It’s optimizing the post with the right keyword is the one that I find one of the hardest the most.

And of course, writing the blog post too.

Yes, optimizing the page for the search engine is no longer a slog thanks to amazing SEO tools like Ubersuggest.

But if I have to choose which one is easier, I will say it has to be this one.