Creating a valuable content on your blog might be a challenge. On the one hand, you know that you need to be regular at posting to keep the interest of your readers. On the other hand, spending few hours on Pinterest just to find the inspiration every time you want to write a new blog post does not seem very creative. So – where should you take the inspiration from?
You may spend an entire day to create a quality content that is original, easy to understand and problem-solving. Or you can follow the steps listed below and write your own unique blog post in an hour or less.
Choose the blog post topic
Thinking of a good topic takes time. And it can be especially irritating when you work under a pressure of time or your blog is already rich in broadly-based content.
But the truth is that ideas come to your mind all the time – they just pour into your brain during everyday duties. You just don’t remember them when it finally comes to writing a blog post.
What’s the solution? Use a little notebook or a mobile device that you always have with you to write down the ideas. Thoughts are like the ocean. It’s almost impossible to find exactly the same fish you’ve met a few days ago. But if you take a picture of it at the first meeting, you don’t have to look for it again. So don’t fool yourself – you will not be able to remind yourself all the ideas you had while doing the groceries when you finally sit in front of your computer. Write them down immediately when they appear so you don’t have to waste your time after.
Make it helpful for the reader
Well, now you have your topic chosen. But stop here for a while! Before you start writing, consider different ways you can present the subject. Sorry to say that but people do not follow you unconditionally. They are not into reading your biography in every text you post (unless you are Beyonce). They rather look for solutions to their everyday problems.
So instead of posting next “Monthly Favourites”, consider “Best gift ideas for your bestie” type of post. The general idea of the content stays the same but amount of readers grows immediately!
Think of yourself as a reader. What things do you pin on your Pinterest boards? Go ahead and check it! Posts that are timeless and go viral always turn to be helpful guides, “how-to” type of posts. So learn your lesson!
Brainstorm ideas and stick to a sketch you’ve created
What I find helpful is to take a sheet of paper a do a quick list of ideas related to the subject. Then I try to put ideas in a logical order, emphasize the most important ones and give up on these that don’t really fit in. If the subject you’ve chosen is very wide, you may consider dividing it into few categories and creating separate blog posts.
After that, I start writing directly in the WordPress editor. I stick to my sketch but let my words flow. For this part, I don’t really care about my wording, grammar or any advanced structures – I’ll do it when I finish the post.
Finally, I read “the monster” I’ve created and I do a quick editing work.
The easier the vocabulary is and shorter the paragraphs are, the better.
I’m not fluent in English, so I also use the Grammarly extension. It helps me to find almost all mistakes, confused words, lack of punctuation marks and wrong construction of the sentences (if you find any other mistakes, I blame it on the Grammarly! 😀 ).
This formula is much faster than simply starting to write the post from the beginning to the end. Why? It prevents from focusing too long on the beginning and losing the main idea that the post should stick to.
Write the beginning at the end
Sounds stupid? It’s not.
The beginning should be short and should briefly stress out the general idea of the post.
Do you read Bored Panda? I need to admit I’m addicted to their posts! 😀 But to be honest, I never read the introduction to a post, I always scroll down to see the pictures (sorry not sorry). The introduction is just too long for me! 🙁
If you write the beginning at the *actual beginning*, it’s easy to let yourself flow with too many beautiful but unnecessary words. It’s much easier to describe in few sentences what your readers will find in this post when you have the entire body of the post finished earlier. The same rule you can use to figure out a proper title for your article.
Summing up:
Don’t be a copycat! Use your own ideas that come to your mind during the day. Write them down so you can remind them later.
Imagine you are a reader of your own blog post. Does it seem helpful in any area of your life? Does the title make you curious about the content?
Create a sketch before you start writing so you can stick to the main idea and avoid adding too many unnecessary sentences.
Leave the title and introduction empty till the end. It’s easier to name your own “little monster” after you create it!
And what are your tried tips to create a valuable content in a short time? I’d be glad to read them in the comment section below!
xoxo,
Sophia
