How to Write Again After People Have Used Your Private Writing Against You

Writing a blog post is a footling like driving; y'all can written report the highway lawmaking (or read articles telling you how to write a blog mail service) for months, but nothing tin can gear up you for the real affair similar getting behind the bicycle and hitting the open route. Or something.

"Wait for it… expect for it… BASS Driblet."

At present that I'yard done thoroughly mangling that vague metaphor, let's become down to business. You know you need to start blogging to grow your business, but you don't know how. In this mail service, I'll bear witness you how to write a slap-up web log post in 5 simple steps that people will actually want to read. Set? Let's get started.

P.S: Keen news for y'all:

9 Complimentary Web log Mail service Templates Guaranteed to Drive Traffic (Based on Our Elevation Performers)

You're welcome.

How to Write a Weblog Post in 5 Easy Steps [Summary]:

1. Stride 1: Programme your web log post past choosing a topic, creating an outline, conducting research, and checking facts.
2. Step 2: Craft a headline that is both informative and volition capture readers' attentions.
3. Step iii: Write your mail service, either writing a typhoon in a unmarried session or gradually word on parts of it.
4. Stride four: Use images to enhance your mail, improve its flow, add humor, and explicate circuitous topics.
5. Footstep 5: Edit your weblog mail. Make certain to avoid repetition, read your mail aloud to check its flow, take someone else read information technology and provide feedback, keep sentences and paragraphs brusque, don't exist a perfectionist, don't be agape to cutting out text or adapt your writing last infinitesimal.

Now let'south review each step in more particular.

How to Write a Weblog Mail service, Step 1: Planning

Start, a disclaimer – the entire procedure of writing a blog postal service often takes more than a couple of hours, even if you tin type fourscore words per infinitesimal and your writing skills are sharp. From the seed of the idea to finally hit "Publish," yous might spend several days or maybe even a week "writing" a weblog post, but it's important to spend those vital hours planning your post and even thinking near your postal service (yes, thinking counts as working if you're a blogger) before you actually write information technology.

Does your weblog post take enough circles and crosses?

Long earlier y'all sit down down to put digital pen to paper, you need to make sure you accept everything you need to sit down downwardly and write. Many new bloggers overlook the planning procedure, and while you might be able to become away with skipping the planning stage, doing your homework will actually save you time further downwardly the road and help y'all develop good blogging habits.

[ Learn how to write better ad copy with our gratuitous guide: 10 Tricks to Become the Click ]

Choose a Topic That Interests Y'all

In that location'south an old saying that states, "No fun for the author, no fun for the reader." No matter what industry you're working in, as a blogger, you should live and dice past this statement.

Earlier you exercise whatever of the post-obit steps, be certain to pick a topic that actually interests you. Nothing – and I mean Zip – will kill a blog mail more than effectively than a lack of enthusiasm from the writer. You can tell when a writer is bored by their subject, and it's and then blench-worthy it'due south a piddling embarrassing.

Don't get there.

I can hear your objections already. "But Dan, I have to blog for a cardboard box manufacturing visitor." I feel your hurting, I really do. During the course of my career, I've written content for dozens of clients in some less-than-thrilling industries (such as fiscal regulatory compliance and corporate housing), only the hallmark of a professional blogger is the ability to write well about any topic, no matter how dry it may be. Blogging is a lot easier, however, if you can muster at least a little enthusiasm for the topic at hand.

You also demand to exist able to accept that non every mail is going to get your motor running. Some posts volition feel similar a task, simply if you accept editorial control over what you write about, so choose topics you'd want to read – even if they chronicle to niche industries. The more excited you can be virtually your topic, the more excited your readers will exist when they're reading it.

If y'all're actually drastic for inspiration, check out our list of viii blog topic generators to become you going, or these 8 tricks to come up upwardly with unique web log ideas.

Write an Outline For Your Mail

Bang-up blog posts don't just happen. Even the best bloggers demand a rough idea to continue them on-rails. This is where outlines come in.

An outline doesn't need to exist lengthy, or even detailed – it's merely a crude guide to brand sure you don't ramble on and on almost something tangential to your topic.

For example, this is the outline for this mail that I sent to my editor before getting to work:

Introduction

[Quick summary explaining what the blog post will cover]

Section 1 – Planning a Blog Post

– Things bloggers should do before putting pen to newspaper – outlining, research etc.

Department 2 – Writing a Web log Postal service

– Tips on how to focus on writing, productivity tips for bloggers

Department iii – Rewriting/Editing a Blog Postal service

– Self-editing techniques, things to watch out for, mutual blogging mistakes

Section iv – Optimizing a Blog Post

– How to optimize a blog post for on-page SEO, social shares/date, etc.

Section v – Determination

– Wrap-upwards

The purpose of this outline is to make certain I know what I plan to embrace, in what social club the various sections will appear, and some bare-bones details of what each section will include.

Outlines keep you honest. They end you from indulging in poorly thought-out metaphors about driving and go on you focused on the overall structure of your postal service. Sometimes I'll write a more than thorough outline (and sometimes I won't bother with one at all), but most of the fourth dimension, something like the outline higher up is perfectly acceptable.

Whether you write your outline in your word processor, on a slice of paper, or even scribbled on a bar napkin, do any works for yous to keep you focused.

Do Your Research

One of the biggest secrets professional bloggers (myself included) don't desire you to know is that nosotros don't actually know everything. Truth be told, sometimes we don't know annihilation about a topic before nosotros sit down downwardly to write almost it.

Pro tip: you don't actually demand a passport to write a travel marketing post.

This doesn't hateful that all bloggers are insincere fakers. On the contrary, many bloggers' natural curiosity is what makes them great at what they do. If y'all blog for a living, y'all take to exist comfy jumping from i topic to the next, even if you don't know anything about it. What allows us to exercise this, and to write authoritatively about subject areas that are new to usa, is knowing how to properly research a blog mail.

It about goes without maxim, just relying solely on Wikipedia equally a principal source is near always a bad idea. Yep, Wikipedia does have thousands of excellently researched articles, but it'south not infallible, and erroneous facts practice brand their way into articles without site editors noticing. Plus, every verifiable fact on the site is cited from links elsewhere on the web, then why cite the middleman?

Lou Diamond Phillips was a total beast in 'La Bamba.'

If you're relying on 3rd-party information to write your blog post, cull authoritative sources. Official associations, government websites, heavily cited research papers, and preeminent industry experts are all good examples. Nobody is correct all the time, though, so approach every source with a the expert skepticism of a journalist and question everything until you're positive your information is solid.

Check Your Facts

A few years ago, I edited a piece written by a colleague focusing on the highlights of a major technology conference. The writer, under a seriously tight deadline, had done a bang-upwardly job of writing great copy in virtually no time, but he failed to properly check his facts. He cited an article from Forbes in which the writer claimed Steve Jobs was using PowerPoint on stage – something that never happened. It was lazy journalism on the part of the Forbes writer, and an easy error to make on my colleague'due south office, but the result was the same; one poorly researched article directly impacted another because both writers failed to do their due diligence.

All information technology takes to tank your credibility is one glaring error. Anybody makes mistakes, but it'southward crucial to avoid gaffes like this. If you're just starting out, your credibility and authorisation will accept a major hit if you lot publish inaccurate data, and fifty-fifty if you have a web log with millions of loyal readers, your regulars will be all too eager to jump all over your mistake – only have a look in the comment sections of publications such as Wired or TechCrunch to see how rapidly this can happen.

In the event that you fall prey to a well-executed hoax, repeat widely circulated misinformation, or but make a mistake, own up to it right away and exist transparent almost your edits. If you endeavour to slip something past your readers, you can bet that they'll call you out on it, further compounding the damage. Be honest, be accountable, and fix it – fast.

How to Write a Weblog Post, Step 2: Writing a Smashing Headline

Everyone and their grandmother has an opinion about headlines. Some say you should be every bit specific every bit possible (to avoid misleading your readers and manage their expectations), while others recommend taking a more abstruse approach. Vague headlines might work only fine if you lot're Seth Godin, merely for most of us, beingness specific is amend.

Some headlines practically write themselves.

There are two main approaches you can take to writing weblog mail headlines. You lot can either make up one's mind on your concluding headline before you lot write the residuum of your postal service (and use your headline to structure your outline), or you lot tin can write your web log post with a working title and see what fits when y'all're washed.

Personally, I don't adhere to a rigid strategy one way or the other. Sometimes I'll come upwards with a strong headline from the outset and stick with it, whereas other posts will take a lot more work. Although sites such as Upworthy arguably ruined internet writing with their clickbait headlines, the procedure backside the site's headlines has merit, as information technology forces yous to really retrieve about your postal service and how to grab your audience'south attention.

Your arroyo to headlines should besides vary depending on your audition. For case, permit's look at these super-specific headlines from effectually the web:

• How Our Side Project Generated $51,365 in sixty Days
• How Lua'due south CEO Congenital an Enterprise Messaging App That Boosts Open Rates From 20% to 98%
• 5 Things We Did in 2014 to Grow past 1059%

The exact figures presented in these headlines are all framed within a context of providing actionable advice to other marketers and startups. "Example report" weblog posts like this frequently perform well, due to their transparent nature (which pulls the mantle dorsum from successful growing businesses and the people who run them) and the "how-to" angle (which attracts people who want to accomplish the same thing past post-obit real-world examples).

People Dear how-to articles.

That'south all well and good if that's what you lot're looking for – which, in my case, is rare. I didn't read any of these posts, simply because it seems that at least half of the blog posts in my RSS feed are structured in this way (including this one). They're great for the sake of instance, but I glossed right over them because they're and so similar to the dozens of other posts I see every day telling me three hacks to abound my startup by X per centum in Y months.

Another mutual technique is posing a question in your headline. Washed well, this can exist extraordinarily effective, as it is in these examples:

• Can an Algorithm Write a Better News Story Than a Human Reporter?
• Would Yous Exist Part of a Crowdsourced Environmental Warning System?
• What Do Uber, Zenefits, and Public Health in a Kenyan Slum Have in Common?

However, this technique is also growing deadening, and fewer publications are utilizing it these days (thankfully aslope the always-irksome "Y'all won't believe…" headline). If you lot opt for asking questions in your headlines, exist sure information technology'southward a question your audience will exist genuinely interested in.

Writing headlines for blog posts is every bit much an art as it is a science, and probably warrants its own post, but for now, all I'd advise is experimenting with what works for your audition. If your readers desire hyper-specific case studies on how to practice stuff, past all means let 'em accept information technology. Don't, however, do something just because someone else is, especially if it's not resonating with your audience.

How to Write a Blog Post, Stride iii: The Writing Function

So, you've done your research, settled on a headline (or at least a working title), and now you're ready to actually write a blog mail. So get to it.

Exist sure to actually turn your computer on before you lot start writing.

Similarly to headlines, there are ii chief approaches to writing a blog mail service. You tin either sit and write an entire draft in a single sitting (my preferred workflow), or you lot can chip abroad at it gradually over time. There is no right or wrong answer here – only whatever works for y'all.

Yet, I'd recommend getting as much done in 1 session as possible. This makes it easier to stay focused on the topic, minimizes the chance that yous'll forget crucial points, and besides lets you get the damned matter out of your hair faster.

Even if you work more than finer in short bursts, try to maximize the amount of writing you go done in those sessions. The more times you accept to revisit a typhoon, the more tempting it is to add a little here, and a piffling there, and before yous know information technology, you've gone wildly off-topic. Become as much done every bit you tin can in a unmarried sitting fifty-fifty if you prefer to typhoon a blog post over three or four writing sessions.

Like most skills, writing becomes easier and more natural the more you do it. When y'all first start, you might find that information technology takes a calendar week (or longer) to write a post, simply with practice, yous'll be knocking out great posts in hours. Unfortunately, at that place are no "hacks" or shortcuts when it comes to writing – you have to put in the fourth dimension at the coalface.

Notation: A lot of people struggle with writing introductions. A great strategy is to write the introduction last. Simply get into the meat of the weblog post, and worry nigh the introduction later. Here are five like shooting fish in a barrel ways to write a neat introduction.

How to Write a Blog Post, Stride 4: Using Images Effectively

Writing for the spider web is an entirely different creature than writing for print. Oftentimes, people just don't have the time, will, or ability to focus on lengthy weblog posts without some visual stimulation. Fifty-fifty a well-formatted web log post consisting solely of text is likely to transport your reader screaming dorsum to Reddit or Twitter within minutes, which is why information technology'southward so important to include images in your posts.

Images Help Your Web log Post Flow More Effectively

I of the most important reasons to include images in your blog posts is to break up the text. Many people scan weblog posts rather than pore over every word, and interspersing images throughout the copy will make your mail seem less intimidating and more visually appealing.

Images Brand Great Visual Punchlines

Anybody likes a adept laugh, and a well-called image can help lighten the tone of your posts and inject some much-needed humor into a slice. This can be particularly effective if you're writing about a dry (or flat-out boring) topic.

This image has cypher to practise with blogging.

Images Make Complex Topics More Easily Understandable

Let'south face up it – sometimes, digital marketing (and hundreds of other niche topics) isn't the most accessible subject to newcomers. That's why images are an essential part of your blogging toolkit if you're hoping to aggrandize your audience. Diagrams, charts, infographics, tables, and any other visual assets can assistance your readers empathise abstract or complex topics and grasp the points y'all're trying to make.

How to Write a Web log Post, Step v: The Editing Part

Actually writing a weblog post is hard. Editing a web log mail is harder. Many people mistakenly assume that editing is merely hit through sentences that don't work or fixing grammatical errors. Although sentence structure and grammar are both very important, editing is about seeing the piece as a whole and, sometimes, being willing to cede words (and the hours information technology took to write them) for the sake of cohesion.

I won't explicitly tell you to cheque your spelling and grammar – you lot should be doing that anyway. I volition, nevertheless, offering some self-editing tips and suggestions on how to tighten up your writing so that it packs a punch and keeps your readers scrolling.

Avoid Repetition

Few things are more jarring to read than repetition of certain words or phrases. Once you're done with the first draft of your blog post, read through it and check for words that tin exist replaced to avoid repeating yourself.

Repetition – avoid it.

BONUS: Every writer has a "crutch" discussion or phrase. This is a word that, no matter how carefully they might endeavour, the author simply cannot assistance themselves from including in their work. Identify what your crutch word is, exist vigilant, and make sure it doesn't appear more than oftentimes than it needs to.

Read Your Postal service Aloud to Bank check Flow

This is a trick that many writers larn in workshops. If a piece reads awkwardly out loud, it volition probably read awkwardly in your reader's listen. Information technology might seem a scrap weird, but force yourself to read your post aloud to check for wordy bottlenecks or contrived sentences. Observe yourself struggling with the flow of a judgement? Rework information technology until information technology rolls off your tongue.

Have Someone Else Read Your Work

This is crucial for inexperienced or coincidental bloggers. Asking a friend or colleague to check your piece of work isn't an admission of weakness or a sign of failure – it's a delivery to making your work as strong as it possibly can be.

Consider asking someone else to read your work.

Ideally, enquire someone with editing experience to proof your work. Also, be sure that they empathise you're not looking for help spotting typos or grammatical errors (just if they do, neat), but that you desire to hear their thoughts on the flow of the piece and whether it makes sense structurally. Exercise your points come across well? Is your position on a contentious topic clear? Does the piece prompt the reader to think or challenge an existing belief? Is the communication you're offering worth following? These are all questions that having some other gear up of eyes read your work tin help reply.

Keep Sentences Curt and Paragraphs Shorter

Nothing will intimidate or outright anger a reader faster than huge walls of text. It'south a common mistake for inexperienced bloggers to make, and one I see far likewise often in a lot of online manufactures.

Sentences should be as short equally possible. They're easier to read, making your audience's job easier. Shorter sentences likewise reduce the likelihood of going off on tangents. For case, I recently came across a judgement in an opinion piece in Wired that had no fewer than vii subordinate clauses, an editorial sin of most unimaginable magnitude.

Paragraphs should also be short and sugariness. The shorter the paragraph, the more probable your readers are to go on going. The "rules" of paragraph structure take been aptitude a little since web-based publishing became the norm, but try to continue individual ideas isolated to their own neat, brusk little paragraph.

Accept That Your Blog Post Will Never Be Perfect

In that location's no such affair as a perfect mail, and the sooner you come to terms with this, the improve.

I'm non advocating for publishing sloppy piece of work, nor am I saying y'all shouldn't be obsessive almost the details. I am saying, however, that even the best blog posts could always be better, but time is always against us. Once again, unless you lot're Seth Godin, you probably need to publish more than ane post a month, and so agonizing over every mail service will sap you lot of the desire to write and waste precious time – not to mention likely to incur the wrath of your editor or content manager.

Make every postal service as skillful equally it tin can exist, acquire from the feel, so move on.

Don't Be Agape to Brand Cuts or Adapt on the Wing

You lot may have forgotten, but I originally included a section in the example outline for this post that dealt with optimizing blog posts for SEO. I fully intended to write this section, but when I looked at how my get-go draft was shaping up, I realized this was as well substantial a topic to tackle in an already lengthy mail. As a result, I fabricated the decision to cut this department from the post birthday. I purposefully left the outline intact to demonstrate that you shouldn't be afraid to brand editorial decisions like this.

Unless at that place's something you absolutely MUST include (say, a section that your sales or managerial team is expecting in a post that yous agreed to deliver), your outline is not carved in stone. Recollect – an outline is a guide, non an immutable serial of commandments. If something doesn't work, whether it exist a judgement, a paragraph, or fifty-fifty a whole department, don't hesitate to make the cut. Be ruthless with your work.

That'due south All She Wrote…

Blogging is ane of those jobs that seems easy until you have to do it. Fortunately, it does get easier, and with fourth dimension and exercise, you'll be blogging like a pro in no time.

If there's an aspect of writing a weblog post that I didn't cover, or you have specific questions near my process or anything generally blog-related, let me know in the comments – I'll answer them as best I can.

Now take up thy pen, go forth, and blog similar a badass.

packporcen.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2015/02/09/how-to-write-a-blog-post

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