This post started out as a joke.I was going to write a tongue-in-cheek post about how writing a post isn’t really just throwing some words down and hitting publish. As I fleshed it out it actually seemed like a pretty good idea with some (hopefully) helpful insights. But it got so ding-dang long I decided to turn it into a series. A TEN PART SERIES. Will you die of boredom? Well, I’m going to keep the posts short(er). They will be at least half as long as normal. Which means they will only be 2 feet long. Ahem.
Anywhoo. If you’re a newbie blogger, or someone strangely interested in knowing my “philosophy” of blogging, I think you’ll like this series. Let’s begin shall we?
The first thing you gotta do to write a post is…well, WRITE IT.
OK, so I’m the Master of the Obvious. But there’s lots of time and effort that goes into writing a post for my blog. Sometimes it’s just a recollection of my day, or some musings about myself. Other times a subject requires research and fact-checking. Sometimes I can’t get the word picture I want or the depth of feeling I want. Sometimes I write too much. Or not enough. Sometimes I wipe it clean and start over.
I think writing on a blog is a little different than writing a book or a magazine article–because blogging is interactive. And somehow a little more personal. But being a blogger doesn’t mean you should ignore the craft and art of writing. Also. Being a blogger doesn’t make you a writer. You gotta work on it. You gotta work it out as my friend Randy Jackson likes to say.
Here’s my 2 (yes, just 2!) simple writing tips:
1. Just write.
Most of the time I try to write all the way to the end of a post before doing anything else. I don’t go back and proofread in the middle of a paragraph, or add a link or a picture. I want to just write and get it all out. I find that I usually write faster and with more clarity that way. And I don’t get distracted by flickr, pinterest or whatever other thing I’m trying to link to or describe.
That’s why I like Five Minute Fridays so much–because you start a timer, write for 5 minutes and BOOM, whatever you have is whatever you have. When I write this way, I am amazed at what comes out of my brain and heart. It’s a literal exercise for your brain. Try it.
2. Describe
I read an article about how Roald Dahl got into writing. Someone asked him to write an article about an event he had been a part of. He said, “I’m not writer.” They told him, “Just write every detail you can remember.” He wrote about everything from the wind in his hair to the shoes he had on. If I remember correctly, he said he thought it was a horrible article. But someone must have liked it because hello! Roald Dahl!! Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!!
So, next time you write a Top Ten {Tuesday} post about your favorite books, don’t just list them. Describe what you felt when you read it, where you where when you couldn’t put it down, how it changed your perspective when you closed it, what you were doing when you decided to pick it up for the first time. Describe it!
What’s your best tip for writing on your blog? Please share in the comments!
Part 2: PROOFREAD
Part 3: Make It Sticky
Part 4: Finding & Using Photos
Part 5: {Basic} SEO
Part 6: Monetize it
Part 6b: How To Enter Amazon Affiliate Links Into Your Blog Posts {a screencast}
Part 7: Facebook for Bloggers
BONUS: Tribes & Groups {Finding Support in the Blogosphere}
Part 8: Twitter for Bloggers
Part 9: Pinterest
Part 10: Miscellany
BONUS: My Social Media 101 workshop/screencasts from the Declare Conference. Enjoy!
another BONUS: My interviews at How They Blog discussing branding, closing down a blog & more!
Ooooo I’m excited about this one. And, naturally, grinning that you mentioned Five Minute Fridays
xoxo
You make me a better writer! 🙂
GREAT series idea! (of course, cuz ur an innovator!). Agree with what you’ve said so far. 😉 Lately I’ve found too that handwriting a “heavier” post helps me focus…no where near distractions on the computer. Then when i transfer it to WP I have a more objective eye to do the proof-reading (your next installment!!). staying tuned…
Interesting. I was just thinking about how I can’t write with a pencil/paper anymore b/c my handwriting is ATROCIOUS! I might need to try this, tho’!
a
Ah! I want more time for WRITING. But I’ll just have to take it in the snatches I have…and make extra time when I can.
(Newborns are time consuming. But incredibly great.)
Don’t you love it when you read a post and someone has really been WRITING! It’s hard to fit in in! And your newborn is worthy of a little non-writing! 🙂
a
I agree! I love writing, just don’t have nearly as much time as I’d like.
And I like the idea of more detail. I always think people will be bored by it, but when I think of great writers, they always have good detail.
I can’t wait to read all of your ideas and insight! I sometimes over think my blog posts and try to be too witty or funny. Granted I have only been doing this for one MONTH, but I always want to make it perfect from the get go.
One month! You go!!
a
I can’t wait to follow along. Your blog has been such an inspiration to me. Right now my family life is super busy so my husband and I are trying to figure out how I can do this blogging thing well in a more focused (and less time-consuming) way.
One of my biggest tips would be to be yourself (everyone else is already taken).
Thank you, Allyson! I think that’s the eternal question–how to blog well & not have it take over your life! 🙂
And I love your suggestion–it reminds me of one of my fave quotes by CS Lewis:
Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
🙂
a
So great! Good stuff that I needed to hear. I tend to get bogged down with the “details” instead of just writing. If I had one tip to give (and I’m probably NOT the one to be giving tips), It would be to stay true to who you are when you write. In other words, don’t make yourself “look” better or even worse or try to cover it up. I think people like “REAL”. Just my 2 cents! 🙂 Looking forward to hearing more!!!!
So good, Chelsey! It’s easy to just show the good stuff–and to let your readers believe it! But the REAL people are the ones we fall in love with!
a
Looking forward to reading this series! 🙂 That’s such good advice to write the whole thing from start to finish before editing. I get so easily distracted with putting pics in and sparkly things (teehee) that I tend to lose my train of thought. And probably don’t write as good of posts because of it.
It’s taken me awhile to figure that one out. And when I don’t do it, it takes 50x longer to write, too!
a
My favorite philosophy of writing is from Anne Lamott, who says, “Write crappy first drafts.” Only she doesn’t say crappy.
Nobody writes flawlessly. Sometimes I have to sit on a thought a few days and go back and erase whole paragraphs and mix everything up. Sometimes it comes out mostly OK. I almost always doubt myself.
I agree that I have no desire to read top 10 posts that are just a list. You gotta give me some more than that! DETAILS.
YES! I linked to an old post above about the founder of Land of Nod. He said, “The greatest stumbling block to creativity is first ideas. There is always something better down the road if you push a little.” (Or something like that.)
Erasing chunks and starting over is a great exercise in writing!
a
My best tip is to write when inspired. I love being given a prompt (ie: being invited to write in a series) but just trying to write without any inspiration is incredibly hard. I think it comes across in my writing and the readers sense that. I’m fairly new and I wouldn’t say I’m a very great writer but I am honest and that’s always a bonus :)!
Looking forward to the series!
Yes, honesty shines through!
a
Writing is my least favorite part of being a blogger (is that weird?!?!) so I can’t wait to read the rest of your series 🙂
This may not work for everyone but my best tip for getting content is to actually DO what it is your write about. This may not work for everyone but in a niche blog like mine it works wonders. So, if I need to figure out some kind or organizing or cleaning task to write about, I get to cleaning and organizing! It usually leads to SEVERAL ideas…which leads me to…
When I’m in the idea/writing mood, I try to write as many posts as possible. For a non-writer like me, it really helps me generate quite a bit of content.
Looking forward to the rest of your series!! 🙂
Writing more than one post at once is brilliant. But something I never do. That’s why YOU write the organization blog! 😉
Of course I love this series. But I have to tell you: I hate Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It is creepy. As in, creeeeeeepy. Yep.
Ooh! I love blog series. 🙂 Especially ones that explain how to blog better. I am constantly trying to improve my blog, and I look forward to reading this entire series!
I love your idea of 5-minute Fridays. I used to love free-association writing, and this is what that reminds me of (I’m new to your blog so haven’t actually read any of your FMFs yet, so maybe that’s not what you meant by them, but that’s what your description of them made me think of).
Yes, it’s kind of a free-association thing!
(thanks for all your great comments–sorry for filling up your inbox!)
a
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