Bloggers know that more articles equals more traffic, but sometimes we get bogged down with blank screens and blinking cursors. This post shares 15 practical tips on how to write posts more quickly. All of these might not work for you — just use the ones that help and leave the rest.

• Think before you write. Once you’ve chosen a topic, do some research and take notes. Take a lot of notes. Then, let the notes simmer a bit before you actually sit down to write. Take a walk. Do laundry. Give the dog a bath. Do anything but write for at least 30 minutes after your note-taking frenzy.
• Write without thinking. This is the “just write it” method. Get down all your thoughts. Make a list of items you know need to be included in your post. Write a stream of consciousness about your topic.
• Try a different writing method. If you’re stuck, do something different. Are you a keyboard composer? Sit down with a notepad and pencil for a while. Do you normally write out your posts long-hand? Pull up the desk chair and open a new document. Try composing on the computer for a change.
• Dictate. Once you’ve done all your research and note-taking, turn on a recording device and pretend you’re explaining your topic to a friend. (This is what blog posts are really doing, right?) Then transcribe your recording, edit as needed, and viola!, you’re done.
• Start in the middle. Beginnings are harder to write than the body of a piece, so skip it initially. Write out your points and even your conclusion, then go back and write the introduction. The second paragraph is usually the easiest to write as it normally tells the reader the purpose of the post.
• Make an outline. Once you’ve made your list of things you know need to go into your article, arrange them in a logical order. Go back through your notes and begin fleshing out your outline items.
• Prepare your environment. What helps you write? Music? Coffee? Do you have a “writer’s routine”? At one point in my writing life, I almost couldn’t construct a sentence without sunflower seeds. I’ve worked past that, but many writers have specific things they need to either do, drink, eat, or use in order to write. A favorite pen. A certain chair. A soundtrack. Prepare your perfect writer’s setting before you settle down to write.
• Plow past barriers. As you’re writing your post, you may blank out on a specific point. Keep writing anyway. Stick a note in the area that needs filled in (IN ALL CAPS) and come back to it when you’re finished or as an idea for that spot comes to you.
• Write first, edit later. This is the hardest part for many writers, including me. I’ve found, though, that doing my research and note-taking first, then letting that information “gel” for a few minutes, really helps me turn off that inner editor. My brain starts itching to get the post written. Make your motto: “Don’t get it right, get it written.”
• Use a timer. I don’t do this often, but I’ve done it a few times. Try a timer while you’re making your list of must-tell items or during your stream of consciousness exercise.
• Make a list of self-imposed “rules.” For example, tell yourself, “No chocolate until I’ve written three articles.” Fill in the blanks with your own goals and rewards.
• Pretend it’s a test. Imagine you’re sitting in a school desk, pencil poised above page, waiting for the teacher to check her stopwatch and say, “Begin.” Then write like there’s no tomorrow.
• Set a deadline. I do a lot of newspaper and magazine work, so deadlines are part of my writing life, but if your the only person you have to answer to (other than your blog’s audience, of course), try setting a deadline if you’re prone to procrastinating. Get an accountability partner — a friend, critique group member, or even someone in your family, and pretend they’re your editor.
• Reward benchmarks. This is helpful for large projects, such as eBooks or free reports. Once you’ve finished a chapter or section, give yourself a special treat of your choosing.
• Keep it simple. The best writing is simple, direct, and concise.

What tricks or tips do you use to write faster? Share your ideas in the comments section.

Until next time,

Happy Blogging!

We’ve all heard it before — if you want readers to return to your blog and bring friends, then write compelling content. So, how do we do that exactly? What makes content compelling?

Preparation

It’s tempting to sit before the screen and pound out a few hundred words in order to check “write blog post” off our daily to-do list. We can get away with that from time to time, but publishing seat-of-the-pants posts on a consistent basis will not grow our readership.

There are two main things we need to know and know well — first of all, our audience, and next, our topic. Readers read for three main reasons: Entertainment, Education, and Escape, so our job as bloggers is to know how to entertain our unique audience, what they hope to learn from our blog, and what they need to escape from.

If we sit in the seat prepared to deliver on at least one of those three items with each and every post, our readers will return. And invite their friends.

Precision

Our writing needs to be conversational, but we need to avoid babbling, too. If your writing is plagued with an overabundance of prepositions and vague qualifiers, check out the series of posts tagged “Breaking Bad Habits” which includes tips for concise writing.

Personality

Much of the craft of writing can be taught, but voice is the one thing writers learn by writing. Voice is what makes your writing unique. It’s where your personality shines through the words and lets the readers get to know you.

I’m not talking about the 19th Century author intrusion type of voice (Think: Mark Twain, who is one of my favorite authors), which is a no-no in today’s fiction-writing realm, but being oneself on the page. As one writer, whose name I forgot, put it, “If it sounds like writing, I re-write it.”

Produce Curiosity

Raise questions throughout the piece. Barney the Purple Dinosaur says “please and thank you are the magic words,” but in blogging, the magic words are “How?” and “Why?”

We’ve discussed in an earlier posts that questions make the human brain go Waka Waka (“Headlines that Make You Go Hmm. . .“). That’s because the brain is a problem-solving machine. Spotting questions that need answered engages the brain and keeps the reader reading.

This is how novelists produce page-turners, especially in the suspense genre. Fast-paced fiction is a series of unanswered questions, that the reader must keep reading in order to answer. The best novelists don’t even ask the question blatantly, but the underlying “How’s she going to get out of THAT scrape?” is there.

Bloggers can employ this tactic, too, but usually nonfiction writers spell out the question, which is fine. The point is to keep that reader’s brain active and searching, which means he will keep reading. And once one question is resolved, throw out another one. Keep the reader’s mind on a Q&A roller coaster.

Passion

We’ve talked about writing about topics we’re passionate about (“Ready, Aim, Blog“). Not only should we write about our passions, but writing with passion will engage the reader.

Throw in your opinion. Be controversial. Be in love with your topic. Writing with emotion will help evoke emotion in your readers, and if they’re emotionally involved, they’ll stick with your post to the end.

Problem-solve

This goes back to knowing your audience and what they’ve come to learn. Successful blogs produce post after post that solves problems unique to their target audience.

Bring up the problem in the lead or opening, and let your reader know if they continue through to the end of the post, they’ll have the answers they seek.

This post began by asking what makes content compelling and how do we produce it. Hopefully you’ve already found some good answers to those questions. Keep reading and I’ll share a few more content-creation tips.

Promote Interaction

There are many ways to involve your audience on your blog:

• Polls (people are curious and like to return and check the resutlts)
• Contests & competitions
• Asking questions, especially at the end of your post
• Challenging the readers with a next step or call to action
• Writing a series of posts on a topic promotes anticipation for the next installment

Provide Information

Give value to your readers. Make their time spent reading your blog worth their while. Take-aways and actionable steps they can implement immediately are great ways to keep readers coming back.

Permit Some Wiggle Room

Have you ever been to a presentation where the speaker asked if anyone had questions and the audience stared back at her with blank faces? She probably covered the topic so thoroughly, no one could think of anything to ask.

If you make every blog post as comprehensive as possible, there is little left for readers to share in the comments section for questions or for comments.

Hopefully you’ve found this information helpful, but I’m sure there are more tips on creating compelling content. What are your thoughts?

Until next time,

Happy blogging!

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” But how do we choose the right word?

Sometimes a word just hits us and we know it’s right. But oftentimes, writers struggle to select the “perfect” word for a situation. What do we do then? Should we play the three cups game and hope for the best? What about eeny meeny miny mo? (You can read some writing and wonder if that isn’t how the writer chose the words he or she used.)

Actually, there is an easy and logical 6-step process to go through when determining which word to use:

1. Determine the Denotation

Denotation is simply the meaning of a word or phrase. The first thing to consider when choosing a word is, “what message or meaning are we wanting to share?” If we wish to inform someone, we “tell” them. If a doctor tells us something, however, we typically use the word “order,” as in “Doctor’s orders.”

2. Consider the Context

Context affects meaning. When writers or speakers use a “normal” word within its context, its normal or inherent meaning is conveyed to the audience.

Context usage can typically be divided into three categories: formal, informal (or “normal”), and out of the ordinary. For instance, when someone dies, the typically used formal sentence would be “He passed away.” An informal use, which most of us use in 90 percent of our conversations, would be “He died.” An out-of-the-ordinary example would be, “He kicked the bucket.” Such out-of-context phrases are used sparingly in writing and speech in order to give the most impact.

Other aspects of context are authority and urgency. Back to the “doctor’s orders” example. In this useage, the word “order” is used within normal context. However, if we say to a friend, “My doctor commanded . . .” then the listener takes special notice of the seriousness of the situation. The word “commanded” is considered a “marked” word, because it is used out of context and therefore evokes a special meaning, which in turn, stimulates an emotional response within the reader.

If a military person says, “My captain commanded me to . . .” the word commanded is used within normal context and therefore doesn’t generate any special notation in the listener’s mind. But if the military man says, “My captain demanded,” that changes things. A robber demands, but when a captain starts making demands instead of commands, the listener pays closer attention because demands is “marked” in this context.

3. Select Some Synonyms

Once you’ve determined the context and the meaning you wish to convey, in order to choose the right word, you need to get a list of words to choose from. You can find what linguists call a “synonymic cluster” by using a thesaurus. Pick the top five or six. In our “order” example, you’ll likely find words such as “order, require, demand, command, tell, direct, etc.”

Other ways to find synonyms are through search engines (Google lists synonymic phrases at the bottom of each search results page), the dictionary, and brainstorming. Try using mind maps.

You may wish to “rank” them in order that they typically appear in normal context. The less typical a word is, the more impact you will create by using it. A word of caution, though — if you pick a word your target audience isn’t familiar with, they will be frustrated instead of fascinated.

4. Eliminate the Erroneous

When scanning your list of synonyms, you’ll quickly see a few words that are obviously wrong for what you’re wanting to say. Scratch those and move to the next step.

5. Pin Down the Parameters

So, we’re wanting to inform someone of something (denotation), and now we need to decide what if any parameters need defining. This is the “underlying meaning” or “reading between the lines” part of communication. When the doctor “demands,” the parameters of this word are “stress the seriousness of the order.”

If you have no specific parameters, then simply use the most typical word. Using out-of-context or non-typical words without having a specific purpose doesn’t create impact. It just makes the writer or speaker look like they’re talking down to the audience by showing off their vocabulary.

6. Pick the Perfect Word

You may have already found your word before you’ve reached this final step, but if not, examine your list of ranked synonyms and go over your meaning, context, and parameters again, then select the best word from your list of choices.

Until next time,

Happy Blogging!