Writing for AC? Here Are Some Ideas to Generate Content Topics

If you write for AC then you are familiar with looking for article ideas. Some AC writers write about many topics, others write about just one or two topics. But no matter your favorite topic - you can still generate even more article ideas. Here are some brainstorming suggestions.

1. Keep a notebook with you always. Keeping a notebook handy will encourage you to write down all of those good ideas you have. Some of your ideas may not immediately lead you to articles. But others will be real winners. The more you get in the practice of using your notebook, it is funny - the more article ideas you will find come to you during the day for you to write down in your notebook. It is kind of a circular process that works by using a little notebook. You can find pocket sized notebooks at your local grocery or drugstore for one or two dollars. They will easily fit into a jeans pocket or pop into a purse.

2. Look at all of the angles when you have an article idea. Thinking like this can take some practice, but once you get into it - it can really lead to more articles for you to write. For example - consider the topic Mother's Day gifts. What about Luxury Mother's Day gifts? Now what about Inexpensive Mother's Day gifts? What about Mother's Day gifts for new mothers? What else comes to mind when we think of Mother's Day or Mother's Day gifts? What about gift baskets? So Mother's Day gift baskets. That's four articles from one topic idea of Mother's Day gifts.

3. Push yourself to come up with article ideas. If you tell yourself you will come up with 20 article ideas, you might come up with 14. If you tell yourself you'll come up with 40 article ideas, you might come up with 25 really great article ideas.

Now what about if you tell yourself to come up with 100 article ideas? How many of those article ideas are going to be really great? Probably at least half. Some of the article ideas may be ones that you look at and realize that you would have to research them for a long period of time. Other articles might be ones that you will want to work on in the future. But many of them will stand out as articles that you can write, write now. Probably not all of them are going to be real winners - but get all of your ideas out on paper!

4. Read AC. This sounds kind of basic, but read Associated Content and see what articles interest you and see what appeals to you. Someone else's article may inspire a different article idea for you. Or an article that someone writes may inspire you to learn more about a new topic, so you will start writing about a new topic for future articles. Read AC and see if you can get a different take on the same topic, or if you want to start learning about a new topic.

5. Keep an articles ideas notebook or file. Just like your little notebook that you carry around, keep a larger notebook to keep your articles ideas in. Keep track of which articles you have written and submitted. Glue a folder in the back of the notebook so you can keep articles or images that inspire you. Keep the notebook handy so you can always reach for it whenever you need it.