Thursday, May 31, 2018

Discussion Post: What Inspires You?

I know you've heard me cry about how hard discussion posts are for me. Hey, I'm a reader, not a writer, but I'm trying. What I have been wondering about lately is how do you come up with your discussion topics.


This Week’s Topic: What inspires you?

Creating content is hard. That is why even if I don't love a book, I appreciate what the author went through to create that story, because I am over here struggling to come up topics for a little discussion post. 

Reasons why I find it hard to come up with discussion topics:
  • I want the topic to be interesting. I could write a discussion about any old thing, but my objective is to engage people, so it can't be any old boring topic. 
  • I don't do controversy. There is way too much drama in the world, and I feel like thoughts and ideas can become muddled or misconstrued when communicated via writing. Therefore, I stay away from topics that could be a little prickly in order to avoid offending or riling people up any more than necessary. 
  • Sometimes I feel like all the good ideas have been done. I swear! There have been times, when I had a draft of a post, and then someone beats me to publishing. I mean, I can hold on to the post, wait a while to publish, but I will still know that someone else did it first. 
So now, to answer the question. Many of my posts have been inspired by a place I have a love/hate relationship with -- Twitter. I have based many a discussion post on tweets which I have seen. Sometimes I turned it into a book related post, such as my funny book post, but many times I have produced questions via a tweet I saw.

I am also often inspired by things I disagree with . Sometimes, when I am reading a post or a review, there will be something in there, which makes me screw up my face. I am not one to "argue" with someone on their post, but I have had it inspire many of my posts. 

I want to know - what inspires your discussion posts?

Now it's your turn!


What inspires your discussion posts? 
Let us know in the comments!

30 comments:

  1. I to have come up with posts that others have beat me to. It's pretty hard for me to come up with topics because I don't want to have any kind of resemblance to anyone's post. I don't want anyone coming to my my door (blog) and say I bit off them by simply having a similar title, idea or even a simple word and call me a copycat. As I've seen this happen, many times on twitter unfortunately.
    And because of that I think it stops me and handicaps me from coming up with any discussion post without having a anxiety attack.
    I wish it was simpler but times are different.
    Love this post today, Sam. Hope you have a wonderful day. 💋

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    1. An absolutely acceptable worry, and something that stresses me out as well. I wrote this post prior to our blogiversary post, and then Marie did something similar. It always happens, but I think each blogger brings their own spin to it.

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  2. This is the area I struggle the most with as a blogger. I definitely suffer from "all the good ideas have already been taken" syndrome. I'm also not big on controversy so I tend to stay away from hot button topics. I don't do many discussion posts but I guess I tend to stick to topics that are specific to me and my experiences, that way no one can accuse me of lifting their ideas.

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    1. Hot buttons are a BIG no for me. I have no desire to let things get out of hand. I don't know. I feel like most of the ideas out there are not wholly original, but the way the blogger presents it and their opinions are.

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  3. I love reading discussions, but I hate writing them because I have no ideas! I sometimes write my posts months in advance and schedule them, so people have beaten me to publishing posts about a topic before. It’s always kind of disheartening because I have to reschedule the post for farther in the future so it doesn’t seem like I’m copying. Then I have to come up with a new post to put in place of the old one. Most of my discussions are inspired by book blogging stuff. One of my discussions next month is inspired by weird emails I’ve gotten. At this point, I’ll discuss anything. I really have no ideas.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. You kind of combine a lot of things in your Sunday post, reviews, and TTT, and you have your own voice. I love reading your post. They always crack me up.

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  4. I so totally agree with you it is hard to find inspiration. Twitter has been a source lately! And also the issues I encountered myself as bookworm BUT yes, someone has already talked about it when I decide to :) Controversy... ugh I try not to write anything controversial but sometimes despite your best efforts not to you do :(

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    1. I have thought of other ideas, which I felt could rile some people up. I like to have an open discussion, that will not offend anyone (I hope!). And yeah, Twitter is the gift that keeps on giving. 😄

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  5. How do I come up with discussion posts? Um, I don’t! LOL Seriously, I have never done a full-on discussion post. In 3+ years. For some reason, it is the one and only thing about blogging that intimidates me to no end. I have even considered doing a discussion post about my fear of discussion posts!

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    1. I really stress about discussion posts, but I feel like they bring a different dimension to the blog, and are a way to share a little bit of myself too.

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  6. I used to do way more discussion posts. Now I can barely keep up with reviews and I I feel like everything has already been discussed. But still, some topics are always up for debate.

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    1. I tend to stick to bookish things, so yes, it does seem like a re-run, but I think new people bring new ideas to the table, and everything is always evolving as well.

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  7. It doesn’t matter if your post has been done before, you can always add a new spin or new take on the topic. For me, I try and think of things that are on my mind are things that I want to explore further. I personally enjoy reading discussion posts, they are probably my favorite posts to read.

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    1. I have really benefited from many of my discussions, because, exactly as you said, I wanted to explore something, and I love getting input from other people.

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  8. I agree it is very hard to come up with discussion post ideas. It does seem like all the good ones have already been done, but I justify that by knowing I'm putting my own opinion out there. Some of my post ideas come from conversations with my sister about reading (like when she told me she refuses to DNF even though she hated the book she was reading). I'm not on Twitter, but I can see that being a good place to get ideas from. I also try to stay away from really controversial topics.

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    1. I wish I had more people in my life, who like to talk about books. I have had my daughter home for a month, and a few post were actually born out of our discussions, but alas, she will be far away from me soon. *sad face* Twitter can be a sort of cesspool, but I try to mute and curate the people I follow to keep it mostly positive and interesting.

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  9. I've had the hardest time coming up with discussions lately---at some point I started to feel like I've written every discussion of ever. Of course, that's not true, but I've definitely been feeling uninspired!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. I think it would be interesting if bloggers revisited an old discussion to see how their ideas about the topic have changed or stayed the same. I am too new for this, but it could be good for someone like you.

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  10. I don't find it that difficult to think of discussion posts because I think a lot about stuff as it is? And so now, when it's something bookish, instead of keeping it to myself, I just make a post out of it! Lol. Like, I don't sit and try to think of discussions. I just make posts with whatever strange or specific thoughts come into my head whenever they pop up. I completely get what you mean about being inspired by things you disagree with though because I've done that too lol.

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    1. You are so lucky. It is very difficult for me to come up with just one topic a week.

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  11. Right now? If someone would give me inspiration for a discussion post that would be awesome. But generally it's whatever bookish/blogging related thing which pops into my head. I don't tend to overthink it, I just start typing and see where the post takes me and if I read it back and find it boring I don't bother. Sometimes I just honestly want blogging advise so turn it into a post because it's one of the easiest ways to get advise from others in the form of comments. I do find it difficult, though, I've seen folks post a way better discussion post than me on a topic before and been disheartened but I tend to just go for it, especially if I have the post written up already, sometimes i edit a bit to reference that post I found so inspiring as well.

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    1. When I did the post on reviewing audiobooks, I got so much valuable feedback. It was a fantastic way to find out what people are looking for in the review. So, it was an advice-getting type post.

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  12. Coming up with discussions is a challenge for me too! I get ideas for those kinds of posts from a variety of places. Some have been created out of a problem I have with something that happened in a book I read, some from tweets I see on a daily basis and a few are topics bloggers wrote about that I had a different perspective on. Every once in a while (i.e. when I'm desperate) I'll do a general search for bookish topics to help spark something :)

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    1. I have tagged in for other people's topics when the well was dry. No shame, because we all have our own thoughts and ideas.

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  13. Oooh if I only knew the answer to your question, maybe I'd be able to come up with a discussion post sometime this decade :D Seriously I think I have done one or two so far this year, and I used to do them allll the time. I like doing them but I have NO ideas whatsoever- like you said, seems like everything's been talked about! I have friends who say they have TONS of ideas but no motivation to write them, and I am the complete opposite- I WANT to write them all, I just can't think of a thing to say!

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    1. They should give you their ideas, because your discussion posts are always tons of fun to read. I love you unfortunate covers posts too. They look like so much work, but they are fabulous.

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  14. I don't really find it hard to do discussions because there are just so many things that intrigue me! In fact, I always want to do so many posts - I just never have the time xD And when I do have the time it's like a wrap up or a review needs to be put up and so many discussion posts (I have several written!) just never seem to get shared...

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    1. I force myself to do one discussion a week. I need that pressure otherwise I would probably do none.

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  15. I've been horrible about doing discussion posts this year, which is ironic since I host the discussion challenge! I don't mind reading multiple posts about the same topics but after five and a half years of blogging it's getting harder to think of things that feel new and interesting to ME. I've been writing more posts about writing more because that's feeling fresher and newer to me right now.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. It's a total struggle for me, which is why I sometimes rely on other people's memes for topics. There are so many writers out there, I KNOW a ton of people will love posts about writing.

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