Summary

The website content provides strategies for generating new articles by revisiting and expanding upon ideas from previous work, questioning old articles for more detail, approaching them from different perspectives, and rewriting unsuccessful content.

Abstract

The article "How to Create More Content When You Have Nothing to Write About" offers advice on overcoming writer's block by leveraging existing content. It suggests that writers can find new topics by delving deeper into the details of their past articles, considering alternative viewpoints, and revising early work that may not have performed well. The author emphasizes the importance of expanding on previous content to create fresh, engaging material, and illustrates this with personal examples of turning one article into several by exploring each point more thoroughly. The article also advises on updating older posts with new insights and writing techniques acquired over time, ensuring that content remains relevant and of high quality.

Opinions

The author believes that old articles are a valuable resource for generating new content ideas.
Detailed examination of past work can reveal topics that were not fully explored, providing opportunities for new articles.
Writing from a different perspective on a previously covered subject can yield original content.
Rewriting less successful articles with improved writing skills can revitalize old content and attract more views.
Linking new articles to original posts can drive traffic to older content, giving it new life.
The author advocates for the continuous improvement of one's writing by revisiting and refining earlier work.

How to Create More Content When You Have Nothing to Write About

And get more views

We all have those moments when we turn on the computer, coffee at the ready, and fingers poised to tap out the next blogging masterpiece, but nothing comes.

You realize then that you have no ideas. Nothing excites you enough to get your creativity going.

What should you do? Revisit your old articles.

Your old articles are a goldmine. Here are three ways to get more content from them.

Question your old articles

Honestly, when you try to keep your articles to a neat 6–7 minute read so your reader stays engaged, it’s not possible to include all of the necessary detail. As writers we are told to keep our work concise; to ‘trim the fat’. So why not turn that fat into more content?

Read through your article very carefully and, for every part, ask yourself: could there be more detail here? What MORE would the reader need to know?

Take this article I wrote on respectful parenting:

8 Tips From Respectful Parenting

Tips found in RIE parenting

medium.com

That article contains 11 parts: An introduction, a definition of the parenting style, 8 tips, and a conclusion. Obviously, there’s not a whole lot of detail in an article with that many points. So, I applied all of the questions to each part and wrote down my answers. Most of my answers have either already been published or will become new posts in the future.

For example, tip number 1 from that article was about the importance of encouraging independent play from birth. Through my questioning exercise, I realized I hadn’t explained how to actually achieve the desired result. So, my follow-up article from that was to explain HOW to get toddlers and babies to play independently.

5 Tips to Encourage Independent Play in Toddlers and Babies

So you get some free time to yourself

medium.com

Then I made sure that I linked my original article in the new one to try to give the old article some more life.

And yes, I have 7 more articles up my sleeve from that one original post, simply from applying the questioning tactic.

Approach your old article from a different perspective

Try to look at all angles possible. If an old article is about the benefits of something, write an article about the negatives. If you wrote an article about what the reader should do, write about what they shouldn’t do on the same topic.

Take my independent play article from above as another example. The article was explaining to parents the importance of independent play in toddlers, and how to achieve it.

I tried to reframe the article so that I had a similar idea, but with a new angle, therefore, new content. Here’s the article I came up with: 3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Play with Your Children.

3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Play with Your Children

And not feel guilty about it

medium.com

In this example, I used the same idea of getting kids to play independently but came at it from a different angle. I easily used different ideas, words, and sources.

Again, I made sure that there was a link to the original article to ensure that it, too, could get some renewed views.

Rewrite your old, unsuccessful content

When you begin writing and you’re not quite sure what you’re doing, you tend to just write bits of fluff. Your work has the potential to be good, but you haven’t learned yet how to trim the fat, or how to proof-read effectively for errors, or how to write with the reader in mind.

Yet, you publish it anyway.

There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s a really good thing to do. Taking the leap of faith and publishing your work is the only way you can learn how to improve.

Eventually, you will improve and, when you do, go back to those old, original pieces and rewrite them. Use all of the skills you learn as you advance as a writer to improve on your old work.

Then submit them to a publication all shiny and new. Don’t forget to delete the original post because you shouldn’t have duplicate content.

Zulie Rane shows you how to revive an old blog post in her YouTube video here.

By revisiting your old work, you will never run out of ideas. There will be endless opportunities to expand on and improve your old content.

Remember to:

Create new posts using details you left out of your old articles
Come at your old posts from a different angle
Fix up your old, unsuccessful posts
Link to as many of your old posts as you can