This is a guest post by Melinda Brennan
Newbie bloggers tend to have two main questions. They’re either asking “How do I set up my blog?” (technical issues) or “What do I write about?” (subjects and topics). But what trips up so many new bloggers is something they never expected in the thrill of setting up their new blog/site. The actual writing of posts is damn hard work.
What are some of the most common words that newbies use to describe writing blog posts? Do these sound familiar? Hard work, struggle, writers block, too formal, sounds stilted, takes me hours, too hard, frustrating, painful?
Think about this:
How much time are you actually putting into practising your writing?
It’s just another skill
Writing is a learnable skill like any other. It’s not an inborn talent, something that some people can do and others can’t. Once upon a time you couldn’t walk, now you’ve learned how to walk and run – do you refer to walking as a skill or a talent?
Here’s the thing, people: If you’re not writing every day then you’re not writing often enough. If you’re writing one post and then not writing for more than a day or two, then you’re making it harder on yourself.
Yes, I know, you’ve got other things to do with your time. You’ve got a job, or a business, family, kids, hobbies, you’re a busy person. How can I tell you to make the time to write every day? Easy. I’m telling you to write every day because I know the benefits that come from regular practice.
Becoming an expert in the skill of writing
In his book ‘Outliers’ Malcolm Gladwell explains that reaching the 10,000-Hour Rule, which he considers the key to success in any field, is simply a matter of practicing a specific task with 20 hours of work a week for 10 years. That’s what he claims it takes to become an expert.
Am I saying that you need to write for 20 hours a week for ten years to be any good at blogging? No, I’m not. I am saying that you need to practice your writing every day if you want to become good at it. Half an hour at least.
Practice makes perfect. It also makes for easier, smoother, better writing. Regular practice improves your brain to hand coordination (and your typing speed), and builds writing pathways within your brain. Yes, really. Just like anything else you learn, writing forms neural pathways in your brain and practice strengthens and reinforces them so they’re easier to access and use next time you sit down to write.
Regular doesn’t mean annually
Just like any other skill you’ve learned in your lifetime, writing needs to be practised regularly. And I don’t mean regularly as in once a month or once a year. Would your tennis game improve if you only practiced once a month for an hour or two?
Every experienced blogger out there who has had any measure of success will tell you that you need to post regularly. And most newbies blogger will agree enthusiastically that yes, they need to post regularly (you want all that keyword rich content on your site after all), and then they say how hard it is to write that many posts, and how time consuming. If you’re taking a day or so to write a single post each week then it is hard.
When I first started blogging it would take me most of a day to write a post. Now I can write a reasonable post in around an hour. Add in another half hour for final editing and posting and that’s an hour and a half per post. I’m no rocket scientist, nor am I a professional writer. I’ve just learned that the more I write the easier and faster it becomes.
The aim is to practice, not be perfect
Some of what you write is going to be rubbish. You’re going to hate it. That’s ok. Delete the document and keep on practicing. The point of practice is to improve long term, not to write a perfect post every time.
Give yourself permission to write crap as long as you’re writing and practising. Writing crap is preferable to sitting and staring at a screen and waiting for inspiration to strike. Some days, inspiration takes holidays. You don’t.
The soul of the post
You can check for perfect grammar and spelling. Make sure your sentence structure is good. Write in short paragraphs, have your text nicely broken up so it’s easier to read. But these are just the mechanics of writing.
They are not the heart and soul of what you’re saying. They’re the nuts and bolts, not the meaning. The meaning of a post is the words you write and how you say things, how the reader understands your ideas and thoughts and is driven to act on them. You can’t do this without practice.
The more you write the more your words will flow. The more you can add meaning to what you’re writing. When you don’t write regularly and often then your words will be stilted and awkward-sounding.
Develop your skill in writing and reap the rewards
You don’t have to be a copywriter to be able to write well, quickly and easily. Most bloggers aren’t copywriters, or any kind of writer. We’re simply writing to get our thoughts out in order to benefit the greatest number of people.
You too can do this. Practice. Simply practice.
And a great side benefit of writing regularly: The more you write about your topic, the more attuned your brain becomes to thinking about that topic and the more ideas you’ll come up with to write about. So you’ll have more to practice writing about, and you’ll think up more ideas, and you’ll have more to write about….
Melinda Brennan is the force behind SuperWAHM, the web expert in business planning – just for Work at Home Mums (and micro-businesses). You can check out her blog here and follow her on twitter here.
both natalie goldberg and julia cameron speak of writing every morning first thing…i do this religiously. before emails and cnn while i wake up with a cup of tea. knowing my blog will launch 11 july, i know i must have flowing mojo in order to rock my posts. thanks for the reminder of the importance.
I'm not sure that I agree that you have to write every day, but I do agree that the more you write the easier it becomes. I've been blogging now for about 1 1/2 years, and all it takes is looking back at my early posts to see how much I have improved.
Remarkably, twitter and facebook have really helped me in my writing skills. I learned to get the point across in 140 characters or less. The skill has carried over into my blog and I work hard at using less words to make my points.
I've also learned the value of adding pictures, video, bold, bullet points and lots of headings. Good posts take more than good sentences. They need to visually draw you into each new paragraph as you finish the last.
Great point about Twitter and Facebook, I have found the same.
Solid advice all the way around. I like your point about the “soul of the post”.
@ Delta, you're welcome and good luck with the launch. Hope it goes brilliantly for you!
@ Karen, you can take weekends off…. LOL. The point behind writing every day – or practising whatever skill it is that you're working to develop – is that it actually changes your brain structure and wiring to become comfortable in that task when you do it every day. It actually creates neural pathways in your brain and repetition strengthens them. When you're developing a skill you need daily practice, when you've built up the skill then you can cut back.
If you're taking breaks and doing a bit here and there those pathways and brain connections never become fully formed and you're almost starting from scratch every time.
@ Mark, that was my favourite part too.
Great article! I always keep a journal or a small notebook with me so I can write whenever inspiration strikes. And you can write about whatever and you can write about anything that you found interesting whether it’s a small penny you found on the street or your annoying neighbor who blocked your driveway for the hundredth time. There was another blog I found where she found a feather, an ordinary feather. But with the right touches, lighting and appropriate composition, she managed to create a magnificent photo of that ordinary brown feather.
I do the same, even just a couple of dot points to keep the idea fresh so I can come back to it later helps.
I understand from your article the only thing is that we must work hard to achieve great success and we can not get anything free. It is quite logical. The praxis and the regularity can help in every work. It is hard and sometimes can be a bit boring, but first of all we must think that in future it will be much easier!
I personally find that the thing I lack within my blog posts is that natural sense of energy. The uhh… thing that makes a reader want to continue instead of feeling like they are being lectured. I am working on it, though. Great post.
Practice will help with that, as long as you're not caught up in trying to write the perfect blog post. Enjoy the process, enjoy the topic, and the energy will come. Best of luck!
I totally agree that when you start writing dozens and dozens of articles on a specific subject, getting ideas and inspiration becomes much easier. When I started writing several months ago for a revenue sharing site, I really had a hard time coming up with good ideas. It was taking me a whole day to write an article. Now after having produced so much articles, spending two to three hours proves to be just enough. As I see it practice and patience are really the key components.
That's so true isn't it Daniel. Not what people want to hear, they want instant results from day one and easy writing with it. When I first started writing posts I was hard pushed to come up with half a dozen good topics. Now every post seems to spin off a couple of related topics.
I think it's one of those things that people often don't understand until they experience it. Logic seems to say that when you write a lot you'll run out of topics – as we've both found the opposite is true.
Thanks for the push, man. I started blogging BECAUSE I wanted to practice writing. My typing has taken a giant step forward from “hunt and peck,” still needs work, though.
Thanks for the push, man. I started blogging BECAUSE I wanted to practice writing. My typing has taken a giant step forward from “hunt and peck,” still needs work, though.
As for technical issues for bloging there is no such a big problem. But topics and styles… I think there is. And also what about writing every day in the morning, everything depends on person. It's better to write less but with inspiration.
I understand that when you talk about blogging you naturally assume it is about writing. But what about images or using diagrams. One of the main ways in which you can create entertaining content is via diagrams such as mindmaps and flowcharts. I think this is a great link that proves this point – https://creately.com/blog/diag…/
I “naturally” assume that because it's the TITLE OF THE POST. If I wanted to
create a post about images and diagrams, I would have.
This has been a good refresher for me. Sticking with good fundamentals has not been easy to do with my real estate writing the past few years… However, there have been many good stories to tell, and I'll get busy telling them! Thanks!
excelente matéria gostei muito!!!
Excelente matéria gostei muito!!!