Steps to write better posts on your blog?

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Content is the soul of any blog. Without real unique and useful content a blog is a dead blog. This is why most of the successful bloggers stress upon an useful content which is of value to the readers. In this post I will talk about the things you should do to make your posts more admirable and worthy.

Writing content is not an easy task specially when you are burdened with loads of expectations from your readers. But this can be made easy by following the basic steps every expert writers talk off. The process of writing can be divided into three steps-

1. Pre-writing- Things you do before writing
   
2. Writing- Things you do during writing
   
3. Post-writing- Things you do after writing
   

These basic steps apply to all kinds of writing like, fiction writing, journal writing and even blog writing. Following these steps can make your posts better, well laid out and interesting for your readers. But don't expect things to happen in seconds or overnight because although these steps are essential ,practice also plays its part to make your writing better.So, if you just write more and more with these basic steps in mind you can make a good writer in yourself.


I hope you are getting what I mean to say. In very short, These basic steps plus a lot of practice makes your writing rise above the level of mediocrity. Furthermore, while I can tell a bit about these three steps I have listed above, practicing is something that is completely under your control. So, just take a look at these steps as I describe them below and start practicing. Let us start with the first step- Pre-writing.

Pre-writing-

Pre-writing is the thing you do before you start writing the post. This consists a variety of things like, choosing a topic, researching, outlining and researching the keywords. Pre-writing can be considered as the foundation of your post. Without this you may fail in your endeavour. Let us take look at the things you do before writing a post-

Find a topic or an idea to write about-

Every posts or any writing starts with an idea or topic. An unique idea or a well sought for topic is admired and others are just overlooked. So, try to choose a topic that people are looking for or if you have an unique idea in your mind just go on with it.

One of the finest way to do this is by taking a look into the forums and blogs in your niche. Just try to figure out what are the things people are asking for and choose it as your topic.

Research the topic-

Half cooked food is always bad to eat, isn't it? In a similar way , a post having incomplete facts and no solid backing is way too boring to read. As a blogger you should try to present quality content to your readers with solid facts and back it with solid citations and links. This is where, researching becomes so essential.

Read articles ,books and other blogs to have a clearer idea on the topic. Note down the points that you would like to mention in your article. Talk with experts and other bloggers to get an idea about their opinion on the topic. These are some of the ways you can research the topic. Researching is an ultra essential part of pre-writing and in any case it should not be omitted.

Outline your post-

Have you seen a painter painting or an artists making his art piece. Well ,I am sure most of you would have. Just take a close look next time a painter paints. A painting or an artwork starts with an outline. Even the masterpiece of Da Vinci, the Monalisa would have started with an outline.

The purpose of telling you all this is, a good article or a blogspot starts with an outline just like a good painting. The points or facts that you have collected while researching is obscure unless it is arranged in a meaningful way. This makes your article well laid out and easy to understand. But the question is, how an article is outlined?

Well, Just think of the sub-headings ,you would like to mention in your post. Once you have your sub-headings, list the points you would mention in each of these sub-headings. This is the staple element of outlining an article. Other advanced outlining methods include,picking out images and videos to be embedded in the post, the sentences to be cited or links to be given under each of these sub-headings.

Writing-

Writing means giving ideas the shape of words. For many of us it might be an easy thing to do but for most of us including me it is pretty tedious job. But if you just try and practice more you can become a better writer.

Now, for purpose of simplicity ,I would classify a post into two parts-

1. Title or headline of post
   
2. General body of the post

Both these parts has some importance. Title helps grab the attention of visitors while the rest of the post is for holding that attention.
I have already written detailed post on both of these parts and would suggest you to go through these posts if you are interested. Here are the links-
How to write articles on blog- Part-5 (Writing Title)
How to write articles on blog- Part-6 (Writing Content)

Post-writing -

Post-writing is largely concerned with proof reading and editing. No film is complete without editing- cutting some scenes and adding others. Similarly, apost has to be edited before being published. Read your post time and again before publishing. Look out for any grammatical and spelling mistakes you have committed and correct them.

Apart from mistakes also look for words and sentences that are useless or otherwise not in good shape. If you are not satisfied with your own writing, chances are there that your readers won't be either. So, cut the useless sentences and add some colorful ones to make your post more appealing. I have details about proof reading a post in the post- "How to write article on blogs?- Part-7 (proof reaing)"


Once again I would like to mention, these steps are just to help you learn blog-writing and are not an alternative to practice. Remember the the phrase that you have heard so many times during your lifetime- "Practice makes a man perfect."