Seeding Your Blog

Murder, deviance, quirky people, and even ghosts. There’s no end to the supply of topics for my blog, “Shadow Boxing.” I explore what’s hidden in our psyches, both destructive and creative. I’m often asked where I get my ideas, so the list below provides an answer that might also benefit other bloggers. Here are my top ten sources of inspiration:

1. Questions

Recently in an interview I was asked about an update to a book I’d published a decade ago, The Science of Vampires. As I responded, I realized that a lot of this material was good for a blog (so, stay tuned). That same day, a student asked me what it was like the first time I ever spoke to a serial killer. This, too, provided a topic that I might not have considered. Questions like this tell me what people want to know in the realm of dark psychology.

I’ve often had conversations with friends, as well, that inspired an idea. One friend reads true crime as voraciously as I do, and she directs me to sources I might never had seen. In addition, I might be seeking answers to questions, myself, and inadvertently come across a great blog idea.

2. News or trend reports

My first blog in this series was inspired by the discovery of a severed head in a park in California. It wasn’t the discovery that inspired the blog but the odd things the person who discovered it said. Then, of course, there was the notorious face-eater, as well as a man who sent body parts to political parties in Canada. Any number of stories in the news about serial killers, mass murders, and sexual predators offer ideas.

I’ve also dug into past news events to find out “whatever happened to” the subject of a story that once had grabbed headlines. In addition, news in professional circles alerts me to significant or intriguing research results.

3. Aha! inspiration, or what I call “snaps.”

Sudden insight is also called the eureka experience, a brainstorm, a flash of genius, or an epiphany. It feels like an incandescent moment and it often occurs when you’re at an impasse. You know a breakthrough is there; you can feel but you can’t articulate it. Finally, you give up and do something else. However, your brain keeps working. It merges various threads from your inner database and produces a new idea.

I’ve published a book called Snap! Seizing your Aha! Moments. In it I propose a formula, based on brain research, for how to set up the best conditions for your brain to produce new ideas. The first part involves filling your mind with information from diverse fields, so you must read, watch, and listen. Your brain will sift through these items on its own. You can relax, take a walk (as I do), or go to a movie. More often than not, in this relaxed state you’ll percolate something useful.

4. Data Mining

I’ve been writing for over two decades, and with 40+ books and hundreds of articles, reviews, and essays, I have great material from which to pull. I might stick close to what I’ve already written if it offers a succinct blog, or I might launch into a new direction. Either way, I’ll have done most of the research already.

I’ve also published many interviews with writers, scientists, physicians, inventors, and others, and I might use snippets from them to compose a blog. I might even try for a second interview.

5. Significant dates or anniversaries

After I wrote about a 100-year anniversary of a sensational unsolved crime (Villisca), I realized that I could do this again and again and again. There’s no limit to significant dates. I could also write about holidays—even those holidays that don’t seem very dark.

6. New evidence in cold cases

With all the cold case squads sorting through older cases, I find quite a lot of material, especially to compare to current cases or to talk about developments in forensic science or psychology. There have been several interesting exhumations of historical individuals, so I dig in (no pun intended) and find out what I can.

Law and Crime Essential Reads

The Cruel Practice of Rolling Coal

How to Keep an Incel From Becoming a Sex Offender

7. Book or movie reviews

When I see someone on a social network site describe a book on which they’re working or about to publish, I might ask them to send me a review copy. I’ve also had authors approach me after I’ve published a blog that covers a similar topic.

Also, being a movie buff, I’ll review a film that fits with my blog theme. For example, I wrote “Dork Shadows?” just before the movie Dark Shadows was about to open. I invited fans of the old TV series to tell me what they thought. I've also devoted an interpretive blog to The Walking Dead TV show.

8. Spoof

I don’t write much comedy, but I couldn’t resist spoofing 50 Shades of Grey as “50 Shades of Grey Matter.” And that spoof was the result of a “snap” that I’d experienced on a walk. My brain mixed four different sources from my past and present into an amusing scene that flowed easily as I wrote it.

9. How to

In my topic area, “how to” guidance features such things as deception detection, spotting predators, or seeing the warning signs for juvenile violence. I’ve also written about setting up a “safe neighborhood” twitter community, as well as how to create an atmosphere for a “dead dinner.” I should think that any blog theme would inspire practical tips.

10. Intriguing facts or misguided myths

I like to correct erroneous information (i.e., the MacDonald Triad in criminology), as well as to describe interesting new technology in forensic science. Since I travel a lot, I keep my eyes open for unusual places or items. A crime museum in Rome, for example, had several exhibits that informed me about cases and investigative methods that I hadn’t known. I got several articles and blogs out of that experience.

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These are the sources to which I turn most often. Hopefully I’ve answered some questions and also offered ideas for fellow bloggers.

Please feel free to share your source ideas with me.