The blank canvas. The white screen. The blinking cursor.

What do I write about now? What do I have to say that's important enough to be worth publishing? Will anyone even care? This isn't working. I'll try again tomorrow.

We've all been there.

It's terrifying, at times, pushing fresh content out into the world. It can be unnerving wondering how your peers are going to judge your words. Is what you've written good? Will it be received well, or will it create a negative response? Or worse... no response at all?

This thinking often forces us to repress ideas and throw them into the "not worth publishing" bucket. It's a shame, because it stifles creativity. This is why we're often left staring at computer screens knowing that we should publish something, but unable to decide on exactly what.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

To combat this: Today we're going to look at some tried and tested techniques for coming up with blog post ideas even when you feel like you've got no creativity left to give.

Keep an ideas file

The most important thing about inspiration is that you can't predict when it's going to strike. When the sun is shining, you need to be ready to make hay. To a degree that simply involves basic preparation.

Keep a file - a document or a spreadsheet - with a list of all your blog post ideas. Keep this file in a place where you can access it at all times; like Dropbox.

When you have an idea that might make an interesting blog post, write it down.

Do this each and every time and before long you'll have a significant inventory to work from - even when you're not in the mood to be creative at all.

Steal from others

One of the best ways to come up with ideas for your own blog is to consistently expose yourself to blogs which you want to emulate. Use a feed reader (we likeFeedly) to subscribe to your favourite blogs and check in once a day to see what's been published.

Don't be afraid to steal ideas which are clearly working for other people. There's a vast amount that can be learned from the success of others. Blog post series, subject areas, use of imagery, the list is endless! Just don't actually steal their content. That isn't cool.

Read a great post by one of your competitors? Write it down in your ideas file. On a rainy day that might be just the bit of inspiration you need to spark a new post.

Ask the audience

Foolish bloggers go out in search of ideas, efficient bloggers allow ideas to come to them.

You can crowdsource blog post ideas by reading your own comments section, checking your @replies on Twitter, and listening when people talk.

What questions are being asked? What do people seem confused (or excited) by? What stories do they have? Not sure about any of these? Ask your readers to tell you what they would like to read more of - and then give it to them. It sounds simple, but remarkably few people actually do it.

Ask the internet

Many-a-noble-blogger has been stuck for content ideas before you, and while that has been an insurmountable hurdle for some... there are many more who have conquered it and documented the process. Check out lists of awesome blog post ideas created by your blogosphere peers.

Here are just a few that we enjoyed...