Easy Blog Content Ideas for Your Author Platform

You’re a writer.

And there’s nothing in this world you’d rather do.

You’re drawn to lengthy projects, to difficult subjects. And you hold yourself to impossible standards without complaining.

You’ve created alternate realities out of thin air.

But you feel anxious and underconfident when it comes to your blog.

And it doesn’t make sense:

• You know you need content to appease the Google gods.
• You know you need fresh, enticing reasons for your readers to visit.
• You know you need visibility to capture a new generation of fans and potential clients.

But you’re spinning your wheels, aren’t you?

When it comes to your blog, to your author platform, you feel empty, like there’s nothing more to say.

Some days you daydream about handing it off to someone else.

But you know that’s not the answer, that it’s your voice you’re selling.

Deep down, you know it’s time to step up your game.

The good news?

Creating content for your author blog doesn’t have to be hard, and it doesn’t have to take you away from your first love–your work in progress.

You won’t be worldbuilding or reinventing the wheel.

All that you need is available: a working memory and a little time set aside to share your personal stories.

These are easy pieces–mostly memoir– that don’t require any research.

Sound good?

Here are ten easy content ideas for your author blog.

Write Your Genesis Story

The first item on our list is the Genesis Story.

Every culture has a creation myth or Genesis story. These are fascinating, elaborate myths explaining the beginnings of the material world and one’s place within it.

Like the Book of Genesis in the bible, your Genesis story explains your beginnings: the who, what, when, where, how, and why of your personal journey

But you’re not going to create a fictitious story. You’re going to tell your audience how you came to writing. Explain the forces that shaped your conscious decision to become a writer. Was it a lifelong passion or an adaptation to a difficult time?

Some realize they want to be writers as children. Others discover their passion in college. Still, others choose writing later in life, after gaining considerable wisdom. Sharing your Genesis story serves many functions.

Like the creation myths of ancient cultures, these stories provide comfort, answering existential questions such as “why am I here” and “where did I come from.” Creation myths helped stabilize societies, so people could move beyond existential questions to become active, productive members of their community. After all, they couldn’t have everyone sitting around in contemplation or fear, paralyzed with questions about the mysteries of life.

Telling your story serves a similar purpose.

Your audience will get to know you on a deeper level, a personal level. They’ll begin to trust you when they understand where you come from. So, share the highs and lows, your struggles and fears. When you tell the truth, they’ll begin to find pieces of themselves in your story.

So, sit down in a quiet place, and reconstruct the person you were when you chose writing. Share the specifics: the time, the place, the circumstances in your life, your mindset and worldview.

After capturing the details, to level up your Genesis story, apply the classic narrative arc to organize the elements:

• Exposition
• Inciting Incident
• Rising Action
• Crisis
• Climax
• Falling Action
• Resolution

Write About What You’ve Learned

This recommendation sounds scarier than it is. For some, it might feel like being called out in class, like being asked to stand up and recite the Gettysburg Address.

Thankfully, nothing could be further from the truth.

No one’s putting you on the spot. In fact, you’ll be sharing your knowledge out of generosity.

Your knowledge and skills are valuable, and only you can offer your unique perspective. You’re the expert on your path, your past, your triumphs, your defeats.

The problem is that you’re often too focused on what you don’t know. Unfortunately, this goes with the territory.

As a writer, you’re always reaching to improve your craft, to establish a viable platform, to bring your work to market.

You’ve conquered innumerable internal issues as well:

• how to manage your time,
• how to tell the truth on the page,
• how to frame your communications in ways that best engage your audience.

When you comb through these processes, you’ll find a goldmine of raw materials:

• ways to smooth the road for your beginning readers,
• ways to accelerate progress,
• ways to find balance while juggling diverse responsibilities.

All you need is to look back on the last thirty days, the last six months, the last year. What processes have you learned, mastered, or streamlined? Think back to each new project, whether it was writing, editing, learning new software, or marketing.

For the coming week, write down your activities.

Be on the lookout for processes you take for granted. You can offer amazing insights to your readers. Think about the progress you make in a single week, the kind of week many of your readers will face. Consider the work involved in outlining a novel, outlining a nonfiction book, writing a first chapter, the processes you’ve evolved for drafting, for editing, for publishing a brand new blog post.

Share what you know. You’ll be surprised.

Write About What You Don’t Know

The Internet’s full of posers—people pretending to be experts, people pretending to have experience, wisdom, and million-dollar solutions. It seems like they’re everywhere.

You’ve witnessed it, too:

• twenty-year-old gurus offering relationship advice,
• overweight people hawking nutritional advice,
• Instagram influencers recommending products they’ve never used.

You can flip this whole market on its head.

And your audience will love you for it.

Show your spots, your flaws, the hurdles you navigate every day.

Confide in your readers. Empathize with them. Let them know that you, too, struggle with issues a, b, and c. Tell them the truth, that there’s no way to bypass issues d, e, and f. Tell them what you’ve tried and how you’ve learned to compromise.

Vent your frustrations; allow them a look behind the curtain.

Show them the real path—the dark, thorny sides of your genre or business.

Write About the People You Follow, and Tell Your Readers Why

Everyone looks upward for guidance, to someone who’s been there before, someone who’s mastered a challenging task. I’m sure you’re no different.

I look up to many people online: writers, bloggers, marketers, social media mavens.

In addition to my social media accounts, I have a feed I consult daily. The feed covers world news, business, politics, productivity, inspiration, marketing, social media, creativity, writing, and blogging. Every day, I consult this feed. Over the years, it’s grown considerably, containing over 1000 websites.

This feed keeps me connected to the latest news, to emerging trends and ideas. It makes me feel like I’m in the know, like I’m part of the conversation.

You likely have hundreds of people you follow online: people who inspire you, people who provide quality information, guidance, and support.

You know people who entertain, people who stir controversy, people who lift your spirits when you’re feeling down.

Share these resources with your readers.

Create a list post for each category, or publish them in a series.

Write an in-depth piece on an important person you believe in, someone popular and connected, or an undiscovered gem–someone flying just beneath the radar.

Most importantly, tell your readers why. Give them some background, some context. Tell them why this person commands your respect, why this person can benefit your readers as well.

If you don’t have a feed, start one today. Go to Feedly.com, and set up a free account.

Make a list of the social media accounts providing the most value. Invite your readers to share their own recommendations in the comments.

Write About an Important Breakthrough

Grad school was an important breakthrough for me. After earning a bachelor’s degree and a teaching certificate in English, I remember feeling unfocused and uncertain.

To make matters worse, my student teaching experience had me second-guessing a career as a high school teacher. Thankfully, my master’s program in writing helped me sort things out.

I found a comfortable place in the writing workshops, working side by side with other writers. As a byproduct, the experience renewed my passion for teaching.

My breakthrough amounted to telling the truth:

I didn’t enjoy teenagers. In fact, I remember counting the days until my student teaching assignment ended.

I learned a lot about myself through the process, a lot about the student/teacher relationship. In short, I discovered that I didn’t want to teach students who didn’t want to learn. Most were just putting in the government-mandated time, waiting for the clock to run out.

So, I began teaching college writing, and it’s been a wonderful experience.

As a writer, you’ve had your own breakthrough experiences, enough to write a dozen articles. Seeing them in print is satisfying, and there’s no research or prep time necessary.

As a writer, you’ve had your own breakthrough experiences, enough to write a dozen articles. Seeing them in print is satisfying, and there’s no research or prep time necessary. Click To Tweet

Make a list of ten breakthrough experiences. If you find yourself struggling, look for times when you changed course, times when you started over or shifted your focus.

Try writing down the year number, and scan your memoires for big events, for life changes, for those “aha” moments.

Even the subtle shifts can be useful. Small changes can have an enormous impact over time. For example, you could write about the following:

• the day you committed to writing 100 words per day,
• the day you decided to start a blog,
• the day you read a book that changed your life.

You don’t always need big, bold stories.

All types of breakthroughs offer value.

Write About Your Author Toolkit

Earlier in this piece, I discussed my daily feed. This tool provides immense value, enabling me to keep up with current events, to learn new skills, and to contribute to social media communities. The feed gives me ideas to write about, new resources to explore. It’s a lifeline of sorts.

After scanning my feed, I can fill my social media queues with targeted, quality articles to share.

I have a dozen apps I use weekly to help me write, edit, research, sort information, and share. They shave hours off each day.

No doubt, you’re using your own set of tools. I’m certain you could introduce me to dozens I’ve never tried.

Are your tools online or offline, free or paid?

Do you use them daily, weekly, or monthly? What tools are essential? Which ones are a waste of time?

Share this information with your readers. Like you, they have limited time and resources. They’d enjoy receiving your recommendations.

After writing and publishing articles about your everyday tools, you can shift your attention to new tools. Take your readers through the essential functions, providing insider reviews and recommendations.

So, look on your computer now. When you power up, what apps are running in the background? What apps are pinned to your taskbar? What apps and add-ons appear in your browser? What new tool are your anxious to explore?

Scan the surfaces and walls of your home office space. What books are on your bookshelf? What offline tools are critical to your success?

Compile your list, and go to work.

Write About Your Biggest Inspiration of the Past Year

One of my biggest inspirations from this past year comes from Twitter, a site fraught with ups and downs and controversy.

Back in 2020,  Twitter began adding warning labels to some of President Trump’s tweets, warning followers about manipulated media, threats of violence, and misleading information requiring fact checks.

This was a bold move for a social media company. Some would say it was long overdue. Others would cry foul, calling it censorship. The bottom line? Twitter enforced its rules, rules that the rest of us must abide by. They took a stand, and I think it took great courage.

Later, in 2023, Elon Musk bought Twitter, making sweeping changes. Many of these changes sparked a mass exodus from the platform.

Today, Twitter continues to ignite debate; however, if you look just below the surface, authors and creatives still thrive on the platform.

The best part about Twitter, the most inspirational part for me, is the “WritingCommunity” hashtag.

This #WritingCommunity hashtag connects me to an amazing, ever-growing writing population. These are kind, thoughtful people, willing to help each other network and sort through the complexities of writing and self-publishing

This #WritingCommunity hashtag connects me to an amazing, ever-growing writing population. These are kind, thoughtful people, willing to help each other network and sort through the complexities of writing and self-publishing. Click To Tweet

I’ve found the community warm, engaging, and supportive—adjectives I wouldn’t ascribe to many social media communities.

While the United States becomes more polarized, this slice of the web reminds me there are good people out there, good people looking to come together.

Want to know the best part?

They’re just a few keystrokes away.

Search the #WritingCommunity hashtag to join in the conversation.

What was your biggest inspiration in the past year?

Share your story with your readers.

Write About Your Biggest Fears and Your Best Coping Strategies

Every writer struggles with fear:

• the fear of being rejected,
• the fear of not being good enough,
• the fear of running out of ideas,
• the fear of missing the target,
• the fear of running out of time.

And whether these common fears are rational or irrational, it makes little difference.

Fear cripples too many talented, aspiring writers.

For every writer who has conquered a specific fear, a hundred writers continue to struggle with the same issue. This presents a significant opportunity.

So, rather than pretending you’re fearless, confident, and up to any task, why not reach out and share the truth?

And if you haven’t yet conquered an all-consuming fear, share that too…

Offer your best coping strategies, the compromises you make every day, the deals you make to keep production moving. These strategies and compromises can help your readers as well.

Sometimes, all we can do is compromise.

Your readers will resonate with your honesty; they’ll feel grateful for the practical advice your offering.

Rather than losing face, you’ll impress your audience. They’ll feel closer to you for sharing common your struggles.

Offer Your Top 10 Pieces of Writing Advice: What Anyone Entering Your Field Needs to Know

Think back to your first weeks, months, or years in the field.

What do you remember?

If you give it some serious thought, you’ll remember countless issues you had to overcome.

There were practical issues, technical issues, financial issues, mindset issues…

Now imagine going through all of that again.

Imagine someone stepping in to help you, someone who knew exactly what to do as well as what to avoid.

You would’ve been grateful for this person.

You would have settled for a roadmap, a checklist, a tutorial to guide you through the important, inevitable steps– steps that you now take for granted.

You can be that person.

And if you think you don’t yet have enough knowledge or wisdom, you’d be wrong.

If you’re merely days or weeks into a process, you can already save a beginner countless hours of pain and frustration.

You can save a beginner from giving up, from thinking it’s too hard, from thinking that something is impossible.

Think back to the processes he believed were impossible. It’s amazing what time and effort can accomplish.

Again, you can be that person.

Make a list of what you know, what you struggled with, what you believed was impossible.

You’re already an invaluable resource to your readers.

Create a Quotes Post for Writers

Few things satisfy readers like a roundup of inspirational quotes.

Face it:

We’d like to think we’re all 24/7 learning machines, consuming the best and brightest ideas on the web.

But we have our limits, too…

The truth?

When we’re surfing the web, we’re often looking for comfort, for instant gratification, for a little feel good advice.

We’d like to believe anything is possible, especially when we’re feeling burned out, uninspired, or worse—hopeless.

Whether we’re merely rundown or truly hopeless, the right quote at the right time can lift our spirits. Knowing that famous, successful people–people we hold in high esteem– have beat the odds, puts us back together, back on track toward meaningful progress.

We like to know there’s hope for us.

So, don’t be afraid to offer that hope.

Compile a list of the best or most intriguing quotes from experts in your genre. And don’t be afraid to look outside of your genre. Search the many quotes sites by keyword.

And why not take things a step further by creating visual media for your quotes. By creating image quotes, you’ll gain an easy, compelling blog post and a series of shareable social media posts.

Check out Canva and Quotescover. With many templates already prepared for you, you’ll be churning out rich, visual media in minutes.

I hope this list has inspired you to create new, exciting content for your readers.

What’s your go to blog post type?

What easy content hacks can you share with our readers?

Join the conversation below.