In the book I discuss at length about how to keep your blog up, but Joel's advice is pretty spot on. It really comes down to treating blogging like a business and scheduling time to write:

* 2-4 hours a week need to be booked for this marketing activity.

* Use the pomodoro technique during those hours to help keep you focused and more productive.

* Give your blog a clear focus and "reason for being", whether it's a niche blog (e.g., CoffeScript Inside) or a more general one (e.g., stfu's adventures in web development). Answer the question "why should readers care?".

* Keep a list of headlines you intend to write about in the future in an ideas.txt file or Google Docs.

* Get your blog popular (and perhaps profitable). Part of the reason why I focus so much on getting bloggers to attract traffic (and then benefit from it) in my book, is because when you start seeing traffic spikes and perhaps even getting some extra benefits (money, freebies, etc), you'll get addicted to that feeling and you'll be more inclined to keep up with blogging.

My biggest problem (coming from the same route as the gp, with multiple failed attempts) is exactly

"Keep a list of headlines you intend to write about in the future in an ideas.txt file or Google Docs."

I consider myself able to express my thoughts in a manner that is 'good enough'. I actually like writing. But why oh why should I (seeing it as a business is hard at the start for me. It's like I'd imagine bootstrapping a startup is, on the smallest of scales)? And - well - what about?

For all the interesting things on this planet the net has good resources. Talking about my own tiny life seems like a bigger version of twittering 'Just went to the toilet'. Who cares if I tried and failed to solve problem NN of Project Euler in Clojure?

Why would I blog, instead of (if we're taking the benefits of writing as a given) doing a journal for me alone?

"For all the interesting things on this planet the net has good resources." Do you truly believe that?

No, honestly (and I thought obviously, but the text medium is limiting) I don't. But my interests are limited. My knowledge ('share'!) as well. If I learn Clojure and there are tons of blogs about Clojure, using Clojure, learning Clojure, Clojure in the real world.... why another one?

I work with C#/.Net in my day-time. There's probably _nothing_ tech related to that stuff that isn't covered better by reading a very limited number of blogs and following people like Eric Lippert on SO (yes, this time I'm serious).

I guess this distills down to the feeling of having nothing of global value to contribute, at which point I don't see why it should be published at all (vs. journal). A good part of my thoughts might be related to rules in society for me. In my world, shouting out chit-chat/smalltalk and whatever comes to ones mind is not clever and certainly not well-received. But - that's exactly my feeling towards writing a blog (no offense intended - I'm talking about my own issues starting my own blog. Works for you? Great).

"Keep a list of headlines..."

I do this and it helps immensely. Whenever I come across some time for blogging, I never have to come up with a topic; I already have dozens waiting for me.

It also helps me filter the good ideas from the bad. I don't normally blog on an idea right away; I add it to this list. Some article ideas sound really good at the time but after a few weeks I realize they aren't so good.

I've been blogging since before it was called a blog and get about 30k visits per month, but i can never seem to make any money or get HN front page. I guess my blog is more of a developer resource type of blog that isn't very exciting. Though I try to post more interesting opinion articles from time to time, nobody seems to notice. Whaaaa!

Hopefully this can help:

-Set a schedule. 2x a week. Pick a couple days. stick to it. it's like working out. set aside time for it and make it happen.

-Make a focus/theme for it. Don't make it "stfu's daily ramblings" - pick a theme, then try to write about it. You can still have a broad range of topics, but if you tie it back to a theme, you stay consistent.

-Blogging helps me articulate what i'm thinking. I've tried journaling, but it doesn't work as well for me. Blogging has been one of the most productive things I've done in my own life and has helped me to go out and create different things that I wouldn't have if I weren't blogging.

My advice is make it something fun to do every now and then rather than a job.

If you don't feel like blogging then absolutely don't. (Forcing it results in crap articles)

Don't go setting any schedule or minimum number of posts per month or anything, that will just make it feel like a chore.

I would try and let the focus develop over time, it will probably mirror the way your general interests in life focus over time. And don't worry if you write a post every now and then that doesn't rigidly fit that focus.

Don't push for it. My employer gives me 8 hours per day to do productive stuff, and my family demands a chunk of my free time. In fact I don't put blogging in that same category as "things I have to do". For me it is an alternative to drinking or watching tv. A chance to wind down, unload some thoughts etc.

Ahh I see you use reading and writing articles and conference papers as alternatives. I think if doing those things were part of my life I wouldn't feel like blogging nearly as much. Why blog if you already have an audience for the same thing through other channels? How would you feel about giving up those other channels, and putting all that content on your blog instead? (I am not suggesting that, but the question might make you think about whether blogging is for you, or whether you could maybe divide the content up into the different channels). Actually, blogging is a lot less formal. When I was a student I had to write papers on the same topics I now blog about, but all the formality made it a drag, finding references, worrying about unwittingly plagiarizing something, making sure it is of "academic quality" (i.e. only facts, no opinions) just really messed up my flow, and made it a total drag. Blogs can be quite liberating from that.