Blog Writing

“What do I write in my blog?”

There could be many approaches to this; how do you find your story? What do you want to say? What are the best tools to use to say it? But this post isn’t for those kinds of questions, this post is for activation, incitement and awakening. This post is advice which I have to heed myself at times, which, in a reflexive kind of way, is how this post has come about.

Step 1 – Put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard)

This may seem obvious, to write a blog post you have to write, but it never ceases to amaze me how many people (I too am guilty of this) talk about and plan amazing blog posts but never actually sit down to write it. I have learned that organisation and planning are great in theory but many never put it into practice and so instead, from this day forth, planning time is kept to a minimum and instead, we write! Agreed? Good.

Step 2 – Little and often

If you only write 50 words per day, by the end of the week you will have 350 words. Easy! Plus, you will never write just 50 words, the creativity will flow, rhythm will build and the ideas will pour out. A little trick that I try to do is put on three of my favourite songs of the day and spend the duration of those three songs writing, it normally only takes about ten minutes. If you love the songs not only will you enjoy the time writing but you’ll also find you get lots written; make it a game, how many words can you write for the duration of the three songs?

Step 3 – Set time limits and targets

Ever said “I’ll write a new blog post this week” then the weekend comes around and its still not written? Well here’s a tactic, plan to publish your blogs at the same time every week, this way you can promote when the blog’s coming out to your Facebook friends, Twitter followers, whoever but also then, you need to get it done by this time, people will be waiting for it!

Step 4 – Write about what matters to you

Don’t write what you think people want to read, write what you want to write, this will make you more passionate about what you’re writing and on the plus side, you’ll know more about it and your knowledge and passion will come across in the writing, which, incidentally, is what people want to read.

Step 5 – Enjoy It

Why are you writing this blog anyway? Okay, if you’re being paid to write or writing for a project then your motivation comes from somewhere completely different to hobbyist bloggers but even so enjoy your writing. Sit down somewhere comfortable, in surroundings that you enjoy with some music (if that’s your thing), a drink and enjoy your time clicking away at your keyboard (or scribbling on paper). If you’re struggling with motivation why not write with a friend, on a friend’s blog or ask the friend to write on your blog, either way you should get a nice boost out of sharing your creativity.

So, what are you waiting for, get to work and just write something!