Blog Tip 19. Start writing the Middle of your Post
If you’re anything like me, one of the hardest parts of writing a post is starting it. Introductions can be easy to get stuck on and so I often simply skip them completely and write the meat of the post first before going back to write the introduction. In a sense your introduction then becomes a conclusion…. at the start of your post.
This is how I was taught to write essays at school and think it applies quite nicely to longer blog posts. It’s especially good when you start out writing one thing and end up writing another!
Good point Darren. I’ve noticed a similar restriction if I title my post first. My mind gets fixed on the title and I sometimes pass over avenues I would have tried if I had just started creating the entry. For me, the goal is to get the content on the page, then worry about what I’m going to call it later.
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Maybe it would be refreshing to start with conclusion, continue with the “meat” and end up with introduction ;-)
Ariston – yeah – I do the same thing. Titles get added last for me in 90% of cases.
RC – I was going to say – the way most people read the web – many ‘writing experts’ say you should always include your main point in your introduction because people rarely read all the way through articles.
Interesting point.
Curious, since you have given an idea of how to go about writing a blog post, have you touched on the different types/styles of post strucuture? I’m just thinking if a blog post can actually be a little different in structure than say a ‘hamburger paragraph’?
Darren, this is probably the best point of all in battling bloggers block, because effectively what you’re saying, is “Just write!” I had the same problem with essays at school – it could take me a week to write an essay because I couldn’t find how to start it.
Ideas are seeds that germinate and grow once planted. Starting in the middle is great coz it can grow in all directions.
I do this all the time. I thought it was just me…
I’ve got 20 posts and 3 pages on my blog that are scraps of good ideas that I could not flesh out at the time. Even if I can’t make it work now, a week or month or two later it may get you out of a bad blockage by having an idea to work on. Most of my drafts are Advice or How To’s that I add to when I have time.
What works best for me is a little free association. I let my mind wander for a few minutes and don’t touch the keyboard then the perfect topic or the beginnings of a gem come to me. Thank god for wordpress where I can save topic ideas when I get too busy. I have about 20 articles in the planning stages which is great on mornings when I get a slow start.
What I’ve really had to learn to do is just to let go! Stop worrying about how professional it reads and trying to make it funny or sarcastic. Save that for the editing!