How I Get Ideas to Write an Article Every Day

It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer. ~Gerald Brenan

Yes, I have the habit of writing every morning, but reading and writing go hand in hand. To improve writing is to read widely and write every day. Here are the main sources of my writing ideas:

1.      Reader’s Digest: It offers a wide ranch of articles from health, motivation, money to stories about random acts of kindness. The articles are amusing, inspiring, and captivating. I get a lot of ideas from its article headlines. I am a loyal subscriber.  

2.      Productive! Magazine: It is free and you can download it online. As the name implies, it is about work and productivity. Leo Babauta is a regular contributor to this magazine.  The latest issue (December 2011/January 2012) is about Gretchen Rubin and her Happiness Project. It is useful and informative. Articles are relating to my niche.

3.      China Press: It is a local Chinese newspaper in Malaysia. The trick is to spot news items and develop into thought-provoking articles.

4.      New Straits Times: It is another local English newspaper. The best part is that it features regular articles similar to what I normally write about. Of course, news headlines are wonderful sources of article ideas.

5.      Email subscription to similar niche blogs and writing blogs: I subscribe to Copyblogger, Problogger, DailyWritingTips, and other self-improvement blogs like Steve Pavlina. Zen Habits. Pick the Brain, The Positivity Blog. These bloggers offer excellent sources of writing ideas.

6.      While doing something else: Ideas do occur while I am walking or driving. The most important thing is to capture the ideas and put them into writing.  I am an early riser. The first thing I do is to perform Tai Chi. The slow-motion exercise flashes out ideas too.

7.      Expand my old posts: Another effective way is to go back to my old popular posts and pick one and create a new post with new ideas and linking them to the old post. 

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot...reading is the creative center of a writer's life...you cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you. ~Stephen King

How do you get your writing ideas? Share with us.