I want to start blogging, but trying to decide on a topic for my first post has left me in a state of derp (read: http://bit.ly/n5RSlV). I feel like my lack of experience is going to be a huge problem because I simply don't have anything to say that hasn't been said before.<p>Can HN give me some pro-tips on choosing what to write about?
I think you have to start with "What is your purpose in blogging", for one. Are you trying to make money directly off the blog, via Google Adwords? Are you just doing some personal branding, trying to establish yourself as an expert in a field? Are you blogging to promote your company's products or services? Are you blogging to promote a political agenda? Etc, etc...<p>In either case, one tip is to keep a wiki page available, or a notepad and a pen, and as you go throughout your day, let "stuff" that you bump into spark ideas to write about later. Write those ideas down. Maybe you see a link on HN and you have a strong reaction to it... make a note, and blog about that.<p>If you use Quora, go back through all your Quora answers, and take some of the more interesting ones and expand them into blog posts. If you don't have any, browse Quora and see what questions catch your interest. Blog what would have otherwise been your answer.
If it's something you're passionate about, write about it. What you love will really show through your writing, give it a bit of color.<p>Don't get too hung up on being an original provider of content. Few people are. Rather, think more about presentation. Anecdotes, history, even trying to spin something into a more modern context. They all matter.<p>Keep writing. Keep writing often. It's the only way to get better.
I don't really get why you feel you need to basically do non-stop blogging. If you have something to say, great - say it. If not, then keep quiet until you do have something to say. What's wrong with that approach?