What I Learned from Writing Blogs
How to write your ideas chronologically, suggesting direction and progress.
I’ve worked as a content writer for a decent amount of time, and I know that this job is not easy. While just sitting down and hammering out a few pages might work for putting the proverbial pen to paper, making something that can attract readers’ attentions and keep them engaged throughout the entire piece might take a few extra steps. But, no worries! I’m here to help.
Before starting, remember that our job as writers is to create a sense of clarity and order for our readers. As Ann Handley says, “the clearer the writer is, the more secure a reader feels”. Now, it’s time to start.
Steps for writing your next article
- Set a goal: what are you writing for?
Content marketing can accomplish a lot of business objectives, pick one (e.g., drive awareness). - Now, reframe that idea and relate it to your reader.
Good content has to help to solve problems for a specific audience. You need to know who your audience is and what’s important to them. How are you going to meet your business’s and your reader’s objectives? - Do some research: seek out credible sources, data, and examples.
- Choose the format that would be the best to communicate your topic.
This can be a research article, opinionated blog post, infographic, case study, etc. You can always find a format for your idea. - Write to that one person you want to help.
It’s better to write your content directly to one person rather than to people in general. - This is the fun part: write, erase, and write again.
Our first drafts aren’t the prettiest, but we can always reshape the mess. Remember to keep it clear, brief, and useful. - Write a great headline.
I prefer to write the title after the content because sometimes I don’t know how my text will end. - Publish and hope for the best! Just kidding, publish and let you readers to know what is coming next.
Following these steps will help you to write great content but, if you need a little bit of extra help with certain steps, I’ve also compiled a list of apps and resources that I use to make sure that I create something worth sharing.
Tools you should have at your fingertips
Evernote: this is one of my favorite apps for note-taking, organizing, and archiving. It’s important that you record your thoughts and observations. Trust me, you might need them later.
Google Trends: it allows you to see what readers have been searching, what terms they have used, and where those searchers are located. Tracking the latest trends gives you useful information that you can add to your articles.
Think with Google: here you can find case studies, articles, infographics, and more. The website is updated weekly.
Mashable: I find this digital media platform especially useful when I want to know about culture, tech, and science news.
Scrivener: this is a word-processing program that helps you organize notes and concepts for easy access and reference. Honestly, I’ve just used the free trial, but several professional writers speak highly of it. They specifically recommend it for manipulating long and difficult documents.
Hemingway App or Grammarly: These tools flag not just spelling errors and punctuation, but also weak construction of texts and sentences that are difficult to understand.
A Human Editor: This should always be the final step before publishing, and by this I don’t mean that we should ask our family, neighbor, or drinking buddy; yes, they can help you with typos or proofreading, but if you really want to be confident about what you are writing, go with a professional editor.
Now that you have these tips for writing, sit down at your desk and start lighting the path for your readers.
Writing is like Yoga: showing up matters.
Missing something?
If you know of more tools that have been useful for you, write them in the comments. I will be happy to add them.
Also, if you like this article, share it with your friends and, if you don’t like it, share it with your enemies.
