I don’t really have a systematic approach to writing this blog. I mean I do but it rarely applies.
Sometimes I get super inspired and I have four or five blogs lined up and I have to reshuffle them in order to publish them in the sequence that I consider will be best. Other times I’m sitting around twiddling my thumbs thinking and looking for something to write.
Inspiration can come from current events, discussions I’ve had, other blogs I’ve read, or sometimes they’re topics that I’ve wanted to write for ages but either didn’t have the inspiration or opportunity.
I try to set aside a couple of hours per night to write this or other pieces that I’m working on but it doesn’t always work out that way. I sometimes have to grab whatever free moment I have to get down a few words here or there or maybe just scribble an idea. One of the reasons I like pen and paper notes as opposed to digital note taking is that it still feels more natural to me when getting ideas. I don’t want to be flipping through apps to find my note taking app and then deal with auto-correct. I just want to write and go.
So assuming I have an idea I will then start to flesh out the post. I will just spew out any and every thought I have about it until there’s nothing left. All of this will look disjointed, rambling, confused, and sometimes even contradictory.
That’s when the editing process begins.
Or rather that’s where I set this aside for a bit and come back to it. If you immediately edit anything you will miss many tiny details that you might find if you just let it sit for a while. Approach editing your work as if you were a stranger.
Here’s where the cut down process begins. Whole paragraphs get taken out, some are moved, more material is added. I go through three or four different titles. A new feature that I have recently begun to include in the blogs is multimedia, pictures, videos, and hyperlinks. Makes the article a little bit more interesting but I try to keep it to a minimum. Writing should be about the writing after all.
As far as length goes I have had to train myself to become more wordy. I used to believe in the power of brevity but one of the things I have learned is that more can be better. I have to stop assuming that my readers will “get” what I mean and explain it a bit. I don’t want to talk down to people and explain every little thing but I do have to be a little more verbose.
Finally after a bunch of rewrites, sometimes as many as 13 edits, I have to let go and publish. That’s sometimes hard for a writer to do. Sending it off to be consumed by the public can sometimes be a nerve-wracking process. Specially if it’s a topic you really care about. You never know how well you did and whether people will commend you, criticize you, or just ignore you.
This little blog habit has helped me immensely as a writer. I find it instills a writing discipline and it lets me practice with different styles of writing. Just like exercise you get better a little bit each time. I have compared samples of my writing from the 90’s to today and I already see a vast difference.
Hopefully in time this will lead to something better and even maybe publishable.
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