Using Prompts to Battle Blog Block

Call it what you will a brain-fart, blog block, or my muse has taken a vacation. It does not matter what you call it, you cannot write anything when it occurs. You sit in front of the computer staring at the screen and nothing comes to mind. You get up, go into the kitchen, pour yourself a cup of coffee, stare out the kitchen window hoping the neighbor’s cat will walk across your yard, and do something interesting.

One way to battle blog block, besides waiting for the neighbor's cat to give you an idea, is to respond to a prompt. Prompts give you a starting point; they suggest themes and subjects that you can personalize. They wake your muse up or call her back from vacation. Prompts, like a strong cup of coffee in the morning, wakes you up and gets your creative juices flowing.

A blogger can find writing prompts on the Internet. Just type in the words "blog writing prompts" into the search window, click go, and your search engine will return several websites that post writing prompts. You can also subscribe to free newsletters or join prompt groups and receive daily or weekly writing prompts.

Once you have decided which prompt to use. At the top of your entry put where you found the prompt and the prompt itself. After that, you proceed to respond to the prompt by writing a poem, story or personal essay. After you have finished your response to the prompt, you type the key words into that window and then publish the post.

One more piece of information about responding to prompts. Under no circumstances, tell yourself you do not know what to write. Instead, just start writing.