Crafting that post over and over again takes time, effort and patience. If you’re not into what you’re writing, it’s gonna be a slog. That cursor will blink at you forever, ugh.

It’ll show in your writing and all that hard work might get you a few readers, but not as many as you’d like. Content planning is a tough cookie.

So just how do you find the perfect topic to blog about? How do you add a little spice? It seems simple, but you need to write about something you really care about, not just something you like. That’s easier said that done, and it’s often tricky to find out what makes your brain tick.

Whilst I won’t show you how to write a blog, I will share some interesting research and tips that might just help you find what you love.

The Science of Passion

You may not think that passion is that important. Science says otherwise.

In 2009, Fredrick Philippe conducted a study into whether an increase in passion resulted in an increase in wellbeing.

After gathering participants, Philippe asked them to write down an activity they enjoyed. After doing this, participants were asked to rate their current level of passion on the passion scale.

He found that passion did indeed increase wellbeing.

Why? Because the positive emotions gave them a zest for life. Something not present in people without passion.

Indeed, people who frequently engage in an activity that they deeply love and value may feel good about this activity and experience positive emotions during task engagement.

Frederick L. Philippe

So you see, passion really does matter to your blog, and it’s important for your well-being too. Zest up your life and be passionate. But wait, how do you do that!?

Let’s take a look at some methods to find your secret sauce.

Finding your interests

To create a boatload of interesting and relevant content, you’ll need something strong to grip onto, and that’s not going to be easy. Yet, if you find something you truly love writing about, it’ll be well worth it in the long run. Promise.

What takes up the majority of your time?

We’re all busy people, so when you’re not running around completing tasks for your mean boss, what do you do?

Personally, I love writing, designing user interfaces, and browsing other peoples’ work on Dribbble. I love to get inspired by others’ work, which in turn helps me hone my skills.

Take an afternoon to jot down what you spend most of your time doing. Use a tool like RescueTime to analyse where you spend most of your time on the web. It’s great at showing you when you’re slacking (and using Slack, too).

The articles you read

If you’re like me, you spend most of your working day on your laptop. Being on the web so often means you’ll find yourself clicking on articles.

Have a ponder about the blogs you’ve been on recently. Did you read the whole article? If you did, you’re probably interested in that subject. Recently, I read a post from Customer.io on How to Get Customers to Love You. I found the psychological elements super interesting, so I read it all the way through.

Have a think about what you could add to the conversation. Start now by making connections with the authors and readers. You never know, you could be the next big influencer.

Ask your friends or your team

Ask anyone close to you where they think your talents lie (hopefully you have nice friends). They might know you better than you know yourself, so asking could give you super ideas.

Another great tip from Belle at Ghost - ask your team.

Belle says you “might be surprised by how keen your colleagues are to share their expertise when asked”. So take the time to understand what the rest of your team does. You might just come up with a new, interesting blog series.

Keep the Ideas Flowing.

By now I hope you’ve thought of something to write content about. If not, don’t fret, just keep those ideas flowing. Sometimes it takes a little time, but keep flexing those idea muscles! That’s how you write a good blog.

Soon you’ll find something to spark your interest, and you’ll be hitting 1,000 page views a day in no time!

Recap

Here’s a quick reminder about what we covered:

• Be passionate, says Science. Make sure you’re interested in what you’re writing about. Passionate? The people reading are likely to be too.

• Take the time to dig out those interests. If you’re struggling to find some passion, you’re not alone. Take time out in the evening to brainstorm ideas, or analyse where you spend the majority of your time.