It's actually easier than you think to ensure that your articles are unique and personal.
This post covers five key points to consider when trying to craft unique, personalised blog posts:
- How everything you write is already unique and personal as long as you don't copy it!
- Using commentary to easily create unique, interesting and valuable articles
- Writing a post based on other people's ideas - how to do it and why it's research, not plagiarism (as long as you reference the sources where possible)
- When you realise someone else has already written something on a subject that you thought was a new idea you'd come up with
- Injecting a bit of personality through idiosyncrasies and personal funny-isms
1. Everything you write is unique... as long as you don't copy it!
If you're interested about writing about something but you think it has already had a lot written about it, don't worry, just do it!
As long as you don't just copy content from other sources, whatever you write will be different - you won't be able to help it, the way you structure it and your writing style will provide a subtly different spin.
That slightly different spin will be enough to make it worth doing for someone: the great thing about publishing to the world is that someone out there will prefer your writing style to someone else's.
Also, remember that every post you write is good practice for you too, in terms of your own writing technique and in terms of getting things out there: sometimes it's important to write about something that's on your mind so you can get it off your mind and you don't need to revisit it. Likewise, it can sometimes act as a great starting point to re-visit and refine in future posts.
2. Using commentary
Stuck for ideas?
Commentary is a great and very easy way to create new and unique content without needing to come up with the ground-breaking ideas yourself.
Simply find someone else's article that you find interesting, and write about that. Reference back to specific parts of the article by inserting quotations and writing about your thoughts on those things.
This way, you take the interesting ideas of the original article and add to it with your own valuable insights and opinions (note: make sure you always reference the original source so people can see the full article in context).
The great thing about writing commentary is that you create your own personal brand by sharing your own unique views on things, which some people will agree with and others will disagree with - making for interesting discussions. It's also good to show that you are promoting other people's work - that you're working for the good of others and your blog isn't just a cynical way to make money.
3. Writing a post based on other people's ideas
Similar to commentary but a step further in terms of creating your own content, if you find a topic other people have written about that you find interesting, you can create your own posts based on their ideas.
This is not plagiarism or copying as long as you put a bit of work into it and create something a bit different. The two different kinds of "different" are (1) creating a totally different view on the same subject and (2) consolidating a number of people's views on the same area and presenting it back as something another coherent article where all of those points are covered in one place.
Again, I recommend referencing back to other people's work if you have consciously used it - both because it's their original work so they deserve the credit and because it helps people get a different perspective on what you're written.
An approach that I have used that works for this is:
(1) Find the topic of interest
(2) Do some research - find a minimum of 5-10 good articles on the same topic
(3) Brainstorm and map out the common, consistent themes and views e.g. using a mind map
(4) Structure the article - headings based on key themes, arguments (for and against) etc
(5) Write the various drafts etc leading up to the final article
Part 3 (brainstorming) is usually the part where you will come up with your unique spin on the subject or reach a decision on your own opinion on whether you agree or disagree with certain arguments etc. Part 4 is where you build those views into the story you will put across in your work.
4. What to do when you realise a unique idea of yours isn't unique after all
First, something you need to realise is that nearly everything you come up with, someone else has probably at least thought of and probably even written about by now.
Second, the way advances in knowledge occur is through building on lessons learned and developing our thoughts from those that came before. In some ways, very little is truly new, whilst at the same time everything is subtly different from whatever came before.
So, when you come up with a completely ground-shakingly new idea, then find out someone else has already come up with it, do not be disheartened.
The fact that you came up with it without finding out that someone else came up with it means it's still your idea too. It also means you probably have a new or different spin on it that someone else doesn't. It also means it's possible that if you continue thinking along those lines you will come up with another great idea before someone else, so don't stop thinking that way!
The most important thing is that you still do something about it, even though you've found out someone else has already come up with the idea. Read points 2 and 3 above and take action!
5. Injecting a bit of personality
This final point is just a general one on writing style. Different people have their own ways of writing and there is a lot out there about how to write - but my personal preference is to try to write conversationally, without agonising too much about writing technique.
Sprinkle your articles with idiosyncrasies and personal funny-isms: whilst you need to avoid it becoming annoying to the reader, it's all about establishing your own personal style.
...a final note...
The final thing is to ensure you write things that you would want to read. If you would find them interesting and read them, chances are someone else would too. If you're happy with your work, you're half way there.
, a few years back and thought it was great - and recommend having a browse of 
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