How to Produce Good Article Ideas With Minimal Life Experience

Five helpful tips.

Before the writer’s block, there comes the idea block. You may not have traveled to all ends of the earth and met the President, and you just don’t feel like you have anything important to say. I’ve been there; it’s frustrating. One week, I’ll have ideas flowing out. The next, the reservoir will have dried up, and I’m left blankly staring at the screen, asking myself, “what can I offer that’s different?”

Every day, I see bloggers post their unique experiences traveling and why writers need to go out and do things. To that, I say: good for them. For many people, that just isn’t financially or physically possible. Particularly now, when the entire world is staying indoors.

Now I wouldn’t say I’m a complete hermit. I’ve been to Prague, Amsterdam, Budapest, and plenty of other beautiful European locations. But, I don’t feel like I have much mileage on my life clock. So, I ask myself, how do I possibly produce enough pieces to publish three times a week?

It’s ironic, in asking myself that very question, I produced this article.

Scour your life for experiences and find a lesson.

When I said I feel like I don’t have much mileage on the clock, that doesn’t mean I haven’t done anything. The same goes for you, too. If you look hard enough, you’ll be able to find something to discuss in your articles. Every week, I analyze the topics below and ask myself how one of my experiences could help someone else. That’s the key.

• Relationships (and the subsequent breakups)
• Family issues
• Holidays
• University/school
• Jobs (start-ups, failure, success)

If you go looking, topics won’t be hard to find. Besides, the best pieces come from the soul and are the most enjoyable to write. Heck, I didn’t realize I would enjoy anything to do with job rejection, but I wrote about it, and it ended up being one of my most successful articles.

So, here’s what you do.

Go through your life, and write 10 of your worst life experiences. Be honest with yourself. Pick three that you feel others can relate to and start writing. The lessons learned are bound to be of interest to you, and if that’s the case, someone else will undoubtedly take notice.

Re-read your old work and look for a new perspective.

Have you written about an experience a few months or years ago? Chances are you’re a different person. You may think you were outright wrong, or you’ve learned a different lesson. Last year, I completed an English Literature degree. As a result, I felt ahead of the field in terms of talent. Just a few months on, and I now know that to not be the case. It’s funny what time will teach you. I realize that’s not re-reading my old work, but I did gain a new perspective, which led to a new topic to discuss.

The more you write, the more you learn. Using these lessons will prove essential in developing more content. For instance, you may have experienced heartbreak in the past and immediately written up your feelings in an emotion fuelled outbreak. Fast forward a year, and you will likely see the lessons gained from experience. Hindsight is a powerful tool every writer should have in their arsenal.

Evaluate yourself and your current circumstances.

Take a look at your daily routine. It may seem ordinary to you, but to others, it might be unique. Practice meditation? Write about how it makes you feel. Chances are, someone else is interested. I’ve found article ideas within the most mundane of things. For example, I don’t particularly enjoy the job I currently have. So I spun it into an article that ended up doing well as others resonated with it.

Ask yourself some questions:

• ‘Am I where I want to be?’
• ‘How did I get to where I am?’ (success OR failure)
• ‘Am I happy? Or am I sad? Why? What caused it?’
• ‘How do I cope with trauma?’

The key is to find lessons in all facets of your life. Once you realize these lessons, you can write about them for someone else to learn. As I mentioned earlier, you must give the reader something actionable. This way, they’ll be able to engage with your work more and are more likely to come back for more if you have something useful to say.

Another useful tool is to assess your skill set. Ask yourself, ‘what can I easily do that others can’t?’ For me, that is writing one 1000 word article word a day. Think about how this applies to you and evaluate how the reader can benefit.

Read, read, and read some more.

Reading is hugely important. Read how successful writers such as Ayodeji Awosika and Tom Kuegler structure their writing. It will give you some ideas. Furthermore, you may find another angle to work from when reading other writer’s work. You don’t agree with what they’re discussing? There you go, that’s another topic. It doesn’t just have to be articles. Read texts in your niche;

• fitness magazines (e.g., Men’s Health)
• subscribe to newsletters from your favorite writers
• self-help books
• travel blogs
• business magazines (e.g.the Economist)
• TED talks

I always aim to spend 30 minutes a day reading other writer’s articles and watch a TED talk every day. It has made me realize that you never know your take on something until you read it. Plus, my dad seems to have a never-ending stash of self-help books I can refer to, so that’s always a plus.

Brainstorm your favorite topics.

Feel like you’ve exhausted all options in your niche? Merely getting your ideas out in writing can get those creative juices flowing. Firstly, write out some of your favorite niches. Here are some of mine:

• mental health
• film (culture)
• productivity
• life lessons

Now, branch off of each with about three subtopics. Say, for instance, I want to write about productivity. Lack of productivity, the current lockdown, and useful productivity boosters are just three subtopics that come to mind.

Pick your favorite and create headline ideas from that. I did and chose productivity in a lockdown, which eventually led to the below article (another example, I know). You’ll be surprised how your brain will twist and turn down unexpected avenues.

To conclude.

Don’t feel you need to have lived a full and wacky life to make excellent content. The key is understanding yourself and the lessons you have learned.

My advice is simple; once you have an idea, run with it. Write a draft and go from there. If it is unworkable, drop it. Dropping an idea is difficult, especially if you are convinced its a good one.

Stories from the heart are not only likely to be successful but enjoyable to write. The more you enjoy your work, the more chance of that positivity energy shining through. Reflect, read, and above all, learn.