Every writer has been there. You want to write a new article, but find yourself sitting and staring at a blank computer screen. You have no clue where to start. In fact, it does not feel like you could ever have a clue where to start. You have a dreaded case of writer's block.

Sometimes my kids come to me and say, "Dad, I'm bored. There's nothing to do." I smile and say, "How can you be bored with nothing to do in such a wide world full of so many interesting things?"

Writer's block is really the same thing, when you think about it. How can you have nothing to write an article about in such a wide world full of so many interesting things? And if you have any idea at all, even just a keyword or general topic that you would like to target, how can you not have any ideas for writing your next article when you are sitting at your computer with the immense research power of the Internet at your fingertips?

Okay, I know what you are thinking. It's not the article writing that is so difficult, it's coming up with the idea and main points for the article that is difficult.

Here are some article writing tips to help you go from a blank screen -- and a blank mind -- to the outline of an article.

The first thing to do is start surfing. Google whatever topic or keyword you would like to write an article about. If you don't even have a keyword or topic in mind and have no idea what you want to write an article about, just start surfing anyway. If you follow the approach below, you will find something to write about.

The very act of using a search engine to search or just to surf can give you many article ideas if you stay alert while you surf from page to page. Have you ever noticed how quickly you decide whether a web site or blog is something you want to explore further? You probably make that decision within seconds. Why is that? It's because for every Web page you hit, you make a conscious or unconscious decision very quickly: should I go or should I stay? In that decision lies your idea for your next article.

Here's why...

The article, web page, or blog you are reading either caught your interest and attention or it didn't. It's really that simple. But the key to coming up with the idea for your next article is in pondering why a given article did or did not catch your interest.

- What did the article provide that you were looking for?

- What didn't it provide that you were looking for?

- What is interesting about the article?

- What is not interesting about it, and why isn't it interesting?

- What questions were you left with?

- What was missing?

- What could have been written more effectively?

- What did you agree with?

- What did you disagree with?

- How would you have written the article?

- What would you have said or done differently?

- What would you have added?

- What would you have left out?

- What examples or stories would you have used to better get any points across?

- How could the article be slanted to a different audience?

The next time you sit down to write an article but find yourself sitting and staring at a blank computer screen, try surfing the Internet with these questions in mind. You should never lack for article writing ideas again!