Ideas for writing, when you have none

Where do I get my inspiration for writing from?*  People periodically ask me that, and probably frequently wonder at my ability to write daily here. I don't often have trouble, I really have too many ideas for just the one person (my husband will agree, he sometimes ends up finishing off what "was a good idea at the time").

Missionaries struggle with this often when they sit down to write prayer letters. And any blogger will have had the same issues.

Here's some of the things I do when I'm faced with having to write a prayer letter or wanting to write a blog post, but nothing is at the front of my mind to put out there.

• I take a look at photos I've taken. This is a biggie and often where I start for prayer letters. These days I'm taking photos just to put on here and to put on our prayer letter. Purposeful photo taking.
• I check my calendar to seen what's happened recently, or what's coming up. That can often spark an idea.
• I browse other people's blogs, what they're writing about.
• Sometimes I check back on what I've written in weeks or months previously on my blog (or prayer letter). This is often a good source of prayer letter material. I did this for our February prayer letter, I checked what I'd written last February and it included a financial update. What a great idea! So I did another one. I have a few "draft" blog posts that are unfinished, but sometimes can be polished up into a decent post for that day.
• Sometimes a series or theme can be helpful, I haven't done much of that here, but on my Kids newsletters I've done themes in recent years. Last year I did Famous Japanese people, this year I'm doing Geography.
• I look at books I'm reading or have read recently.
• Things I've been mulling over can be worth writing up on a blog post as for sure others have had similar thoughts at one time or other.
• Facebook can be a good source of ideas for blogging.
• And of course lists are a great way to string a whole lot of vaguely related ideas together.
• I don't do this often, but it is something that is recommended for writers: to make sure you have a notebook (or iPhone) with you all the time, so you can scribble down ideas when they occur, because often that happens at a time that you aren't able to act on the idea. Problem times for me, though, are showers, bathroom, driving. Great ideas, but no way to write anything down!
• If all else fails, I might go surfing on Youtube!

See, I have heaps of ideas!

*Thanks to Dave Skipper for the idea for this post!