How To Become A Lean, Mean, Writing Machine

This post will be the 22nd consecutive post for the Back To The Basics series. I wrote 20 of those (had 2 guest posts), and I have written several other posts during the same time period (including a couple of guest posts). Want to know my secret to writing an absolutely massive amount of content in a short period of time?

Plan Ahead - Before I started Back To The Basics I opened up a text editor and wrote down 31 post ideas. Out of the 20 posts I’ve written so far, 18 of the topics were on the list. If I hadn’t come up with that initial plan, there is no way I could have kept writing. In addition to making a list, you can even go as far as prewriting your posts, but that may be difficult depending on your blog’s niche and the post topic (news vs timeless-content).

Just Sit Down And Do It - During this blog series I have played hardly any games, which is pretty much unheard of for an 18 year old male computer geek. During the first week of the blog series I tried writing all of this content and doing fun stuff at the same time, but it simply didn’t work out. I decided to just sit down and do my work for now, then play later. Don’t let distractions like gaming (stupid Desktop Tower Defense) keep you from working.

Practice, Practice, Practice - When you first start blogging chances are it’ll take you quite a bit longer to write than it will in a year, or even a few months. When I first started it took me what seemed like days to come up with a post idea and actually write it, now it doesn’t take much time at all (I can write a decent post in minutes). There is no substitute for good experience. The best way to improve your writing is to practice, practice, practice!

Spend Most Of Your Time Editing, Not Writing - If you spend more time writing a post than editing it, then you’ve got some problems. Blogging is 5% writing, 95% editing. There is always something to improve, even in the best blog post ever.

Don’t Over Think - Based on my experience thus far, most blogger’s block comes from thinking too much. You may be searching for a topic that is right in front of you and may be in your blog’s comments, previous posts, what other bloggers are talking about, etc. If you’re really really stuck, take a break…

Take Breaks - Every once in a while I’ll take a short break to help rejuvenate a bit. Usually a short break will follow a stressful week, a long period of nonstop blogging, or when I experience a case of blogger’s block. Plus it is nice to take a break for no real reason other than to rest and catch up on other projects. Oh, and don’t forget to look for guest posters while you are away!

Keep Notes - The best way to write a lot of content (other than practicing) is to always carry a little pad of paper with you wherever you go - you never know when you’ll get a good idea.

Well, that’s it. Stay tuned for more Back To The Basics posts.

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