Now that your blog's set up and you're feeling comfortable with posting, you're suddenly faced with a daunting blank screen. What to write about next?

Maybe you're suffering from the opposite problem and there are too many topics that you want to cover. You can't possibly begin to write everything down in one space. What next?

Either scenario can be alleviated by determining the focus of your blog. Take a step back from what you've created and consider the point of your blog.

Purpose
Do you want to communicate with family and friends across the country, updating them on your daily activities? Frequent or regular postings fit this format well with short updates when time permits.

Maybe you want to share the details of a project with family members. You can "narrate" events as they unfold. Say you're renovating your house and want to share details and pictures as progress is made - your blog is a perfect way to update friends.

Audience
Who will be reading your blog? How have you adjusted the privacy settings on the blog, and who do you intend to notify about the blog's existence?

Will your intended readers know who you mean if you say that you and Susannah went for a walk? Would they be confused and wonder if Susannah is your daughter or your dog? Would your audience want to hear a blow-by-blow version of your day, or would you prefer to share the highlights of the week?

Interest
When you created your blog, what did you have in mind to use it for? Did you imagine writing about the sorry state of politics with harsh critiques of opposing beliefs? Perhaps you intended to use it to supplement phone calls and emails to fill in the details of your life. The first purpose that sprang to mind is likely one that you should follow up on.


Focus
Consider a magnifying glass held in three different ways as a way to decide on a focus for your blog.

Held at armslength, the glass's magnification is lost with the range of normal vision. You're able to see a great amount, but it's what you might normally see. You're able to select what you decide to focus on and might just focus on the whole picture.

Applying this analogy to your blog would mean that the focus of the blog is very broad. Perhaps you'd want to write about world events, or whatever topic is on your mind. Maybe a passing conversation inspires an entry one day, and the evening news another night. With everything thrown in, this type of blog can be considered the "kitchen sink" blog.

Mentally adjust your arm until the elbow is bent and the magnifying glass is much closer to your eyes. You're still able to see things around the glass with normal vision, but should you choose, details are greatly magnified through the glass. Ordinary events take on a new level of detail and significance.

The focus of this type of blog is more narrow than the wide-open range of the first blog while it doesn't rule out the possibility of a wider focus. A blog could contain a description of a day's grocery trip with the next entry discussing the birth of Japan's newest prince.

By holding the magnifying glass up to your eyes, you'd be able to see a very small section of the world, but in great detail. Your blog would be written to fill a particular niche, such as cooking or trying new recipes.

If you squint through the magnifying glass, the world gets blurry except for one particular detail. Say your blog site is about one specific type of food, like reviews of energy drinks or potato chips. (Yes, these blogs exist.)

Say that you've decided on a level of focus for your blog, a subject, and you still can't decide what to write. Almost every writing guide or class would instruct you to push through the empty space and just write.

Sometimes that's not feasible. This article suggests giving your writing a break until your interest is renewed in a particular topic.

If you're searching for inspiration, Technorati is a great way to view what other people are viewing. A Google search for topics that interest you is another good way to see what people are blogging about.

Writing and communicating your ideas via blog should be enjoyable or the blog will soon be abandoned.

Battling Blogger's Block
11 Ideas to Maintain Your Blog
How to Choose a Niche Topic for Your Blog
Defeating Writer's Block