Writing Tips for Bloggers
ByGenerating great content for your blog everyday is a challenge for most bloggers. You will find that your first blog will be the hardest because even after the learning curve and other work you have to do for your blog you also get thrown into writing everyday. Unless you are already a professional writer in another field writing everyday can be a medieval torture.
There are some very good writing habits you should get into if you intend or have already started your first blog. Why get into good writing habits? In the long run you will find writing gets a lot easier if you develop a set habit of writing daily. You will still have days things don’t go well but the struggle won’t be as bad.
- Write Daily - If you have already been reading blogs on learning to blog, then you will come to see that not everyone writes blog posts daily. For a seasoned writer it is acceptable to miss a day in writing, but in the beginning (the first couple of years) you should set a time usually early morning or late at night in which you can write for an hour or so. Once you start writing daily don’t stop, don’t miss days for any reason. You will be forcing yourself into the habit and missing a day will be too easy a temptation.
- Day or Night Writing – Most writers typically write early morning or very late into the night. Which is best? That depends on you and your personal habits. Being a night owl I have always done my writing somewhere between 1-3 am. If you are a morning person then it would be best to write in the morning. Set your alarm so you get up an hour earlier then you usually do and spend it writing. Once you decide your writing time, keep it the same everyday. That writing time will be your time away from everything to create. After a while you will find yourself looking forward to your “writing time”. Yes, you can choose a writing time in the middle of the day, for example starting two hours before the kids get home from school or right after you send them out the door.
- Write Don’t List Ideas – Once you have you writing time, write always write. Don’t set there and list ideas to write about. Just put once sentence after another and you will be writing. Why not list ideas? Because there are other habits for listing ideas to write about, I’m getting to those. Your time is to write.
- How Long to Write? – So the question comes. Usually the normal time is 1-2 hours. When you first start it will be hard to write an hour straight. A lot of writers started off writing only 30 minutes a day the first few months. The real point is to stay with a set time everyday. NEVER write less then your set time. You can however write longer if you are on a roll and have the time free. I usually write about 2 hours a day and then spend 2 hours editing other work. As a blogger you won’t be editing other work a lot, but you might decide to write for more than a blog someday.
- Dealing with Distractions – There is no easy way to deal with distractions when you are in your set writing time. Kids, spouse, cell phone, tv, music (more on music in a minute) and other distractions can get in the way of your train of thought. Eliminate those distractions BEFORE you start your writing time. Your writing time is intended to get a train of thought going, distractions will cause severe writing problems. Now on the subject of music. This isn’t something you should start out doing (give it a few years), but some writers have found that listening to music will aid in keeping the distractions out of your head. Don’t start in the beginning though or you will find yourself listening to music and not writing.
- Keeping a List of Ideas – I told you I was getting to this. Once you begin writing you will notice that all day long ideas will come to you. The best way I have found to deal with this is to keep a pad and pen with you all the time. It doesn’t have to be a large pad, just something big enough to jot down the idea. Write enough about it so that when you go back later you will be able to shake your memory enough so that you remember. Ideas for blog posts regardless of niche can come from anywhere, so be prepared. You don’t have to write about this idea your next writing time, but you will always have a list to look at when those days come when “writer’s block” has you pounding your head against the wall.
- Finding What Works for You – It is important to keep your writing time the same everyday, but remember it is not set in stone. In the beginning if you find your writing time isn’t the best for you switch to a time you think is better. The key is to find the time which is comfortable to you. Once you find that time then set it in stone. For example, my time is between 1-3am. I tried early morning, afternoon, and various other times but found other issues kept clouding my writing thoughts. The early morning time just wasn’t for me because being a morning person I could never get focused.
If you are like most people you will find that you have to either give up something or spend less time doing other things to get your writing time. Developing a writing habit is changing your lifestyle. In a few months you won’t miss the video game, sitcom, movie, ballgame, or whatever is taking up your productive time right now. Yes, it is hard to change your lifestyle to be a writer. If you want to write a daily blog post you have to give up time somewhere to make it happen. One of the biggest ways to fail is not making the time to do the work.