iRadar: 10 Creative Tumblr Blogging Ideas For When You Have Writers Block

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

10 Creative Tumblr Blogging Ideas For When You Have Writers Block

For the last few months, I’ve become a fan of Tumblr, visiting and adding content to my blog nearly every other day. What’s great about Tumblr is that, similar to Twitter, you can reblog posts by other members of the site, particularly the people you follow. This helps keep your own blog fresh with content without you having to always develop it yourself. On the other hand, you might find yourself becoming a Tumblr-er who reblogs more than you create original content.

If you’ve been on Tumblr for a while, head over to tumblrcloud and have the application generate a cloud of words you blog most about. When the cloud is posted to your Tumblr blog, it will include your total number of original posts and reblogs.

Screenshot790

If you’re short on original content ideas, you might consider some of the following creative writing ideas for Tumblr content.

1. Complete A Challenge

The easiest way to produce content for Tumblr blogs is to take a daily challenge. Some of the more popular challenges include The 30-Day Tumblr Challenge, The Vampire Diaries 30 Day Challenge and the 30 Day Book Challenge.

This Tumblr blog has archived dozens of the challenges that are sure to get your creative juices flowing.

Screenshot792

2. Create A Bucket List

A Bucket List is simply a list of things you want to do in your lifetime. You might create a single list of to-dos, or post them separately in daily blog posts.

Tumblr lo74dztQdD1qggn0jo1 500

3. Ask Me A Question Post

Ask your followers to ask you a question, or make a list of questions yourself, and ask them to pick one or two for you to respond to. See my article on advanced Tumblr tips for how to set up a question in a blog post. Experienced Tumblr members know that you also have an Ask box to leave questions.

Screen shot 2011 07 11 at 10 43 45 PM

However, be mindful that Tumblr is not Twitter. Your followers might want their Dashboard flooded with your “Ask me a question” everyday.

4. Currently Reading…

If you’re an avid reader, then you should definitely be posting about your book consumptions. On Tumblr, you don’t have to write a book report; just a summary or short reaction will do. Or not…upload an image of a book cover and you got yourself a post.

Screenshot794

5. Start A Book Club

Several book club blogs have been started on Tumblr, but I’m not sure how well they are doing. You might try hitting up your followers and seeing if they’re interested. A similar idea might be to start a Tumblr blog based on a popular television show.

6. GPOYW

If you’re a little vain, you might participate in Tumblr’s Gratuitous Picture of Yourself Wednesday meme. Nothing to write here. Just take a photo of yourself and post it.

Gpoyw

7. Explore Tags

If you’re not inspired by your followers content, you might want to check out Tumblr’s Explore Popular Tags page. There you will find several dozen tags – from fashion, comics, to science—that you can peruse for inspiring content.

8. Newspaper Blackout

If you want an interesting creative challenge, try your hand at Austin Kleon’s Newspaper Blackout type of poetry. You’ll understand it best by visiting his Tumblr page. It mainly involves you grabbing a newspaper, a marker, and creating a poem out of selected words in an article. It may not be as easy as you think, but it makes for interesting Tumblr content.

Newspaperblackout

9. Writing Prompts

If you’re still stuck on what to write about, check out this growing list of Tumblr writing prompts.

Screenshot795

10. Post A Quote

Often what makes Tumblr so appealing is that members tie words and images together to create content. A simple photo and a quote said by yourself or by someone else can be an inspiring post on any day.

Tumblr lo7j6yPbC21qhdn48o1 500