Using A 'Future Book' To Make Your Life Easier

An efficient and successful journalist friend of mine gave me a hot tip which I thought was worth passing on.

Every journalist, writer and blogger has days or weeks when they struggle to find exciting and interesting things to write about. One way to ensure a regular flow of article ideas is to create what my friend calls her “Future Book”. Simply put, this is a diary of interesting and relevant events that are happening in the future.

Depending on the subject you could make notes about up-coming new legislation, a new product launch, a court case, industry conference, tour dates, visits to your country by a personality, a political event, a TV program, etc.

You can also make notes about follow up stories you can write. For example, if you trialled a product, you could plan an article in six months time to report how people have got on using it over that period, or the impact of new legislation after it has been in place for twelve months.

In practical terms, my friend's future book is just entries in her normal diary which she writes in a different colour. Every Monday she scans the month ahead to see what it is coming up. 

Give it a go and see how you get on.