I think I’ve mentioned this before but I’ve noticed a lot of people I’ve actually worked on blogs with tend to write their whole post in the publisher (like WordPress) rather than drafting it out before. Not only are they not drafting in a Word doc first, they’re not utilizing a notebook as a way to write out ideas by hand. Photos generally go through a process before we share online—we take them, upload them, edit them, choose the best ones, and see how they look online… Then tweak as necessary. Shouldn’t there also be a process for the written content?
For quick roundups you might not need a three step process (though I don’t recommend ever having writing saved only online—that’s just inviting your internet to crash mid-post!) but for any long form content or thought pieces, writing it out first will 100% improve your post. I usually write a stream of consciousness type outline in my notebook, which helps me to arrive at an angle and a point for my piece. If it’s a tight turnaround I’ll type the whole thing out in a document afterward, then paste it in the editor and format from there. But if I can I’ll sit on it for a bit before revising. So, my notebook is a first draft, the Word doc is a way of revising it into something more polished, and the upload is the copy edit. Once online I can preview and make changes in the editor as I read, usually for formatting, but it’s a great way to catch typos too.
Back in the day you might’ve learned about first drafts, revision, and editing, and the differences among them. This type of process should still apply to blogging, which after all, is just writing on the internet. Because blogging stems from the concept of the online journal, it’s okay for a piece to not have undergone hours of scrutiny and workshopping. However, have you noticed how polished visual content has become over the past few years? When you scroll through the “big” blogs, you’ll see that they have professional photos and a well-designed website. Yet, the writing has not always evolved the way the visual content has, and I believe it’s because less care and attention is paid to the writing in this other focus.
But unless your blog is a photo blog or just a landing page for your videos, you probably want good written content on it, huh? Sure, you want readers to see a great photo and not to be confused by the layout of your site, but you also want them to read the post! If you don’t have some sort of process like drafting-revising-editing, you’re losing a bit of its greatness. Again, you might not be too concerned with it being a great piece of literature by any means, but you probably want to present yourself as credible, and that has a lot to do with the way your blog is written.
No matter what your process is, just make sure there is one. It will make your writing, and your blog, so much better!
Let us know your blogging process! We’d love to hear it.
Audrey | Brunch at Audrey's says
I have a secret Tumblr and a notebook, in which I’ll quickly write down any thoughts that come into my head when I’m not in “blogging mode,” so that’s my stream of consciousness if you will. But after that I start typing away on WordPress. Occasionally if I hit a writer’s block, I might step away and/or turn to writing in my notebook, but for the most part, I write my posts in WordPress, read over my post as I’m writing it, do another quick read over when I’m done, then save it. When it’s approaching time for me to hit publish, I’ll return to the post again, do a last quick read over, and then publish it! So… not exactly the writing process I learned in elementary school :P although I should probably get back to good habits and good form (PS: the fifth word of this blog post is mis-typed) -Audrey | Brunch at Audrey’s
Aya says
This is so true! Some blogs may be way ahead of the game when it comes to imagery and web design but fall short when it comes to writing. I’ve read countless blog posts with spelling and grammar mistakes, which are easy to miss but glaringly obvious to the reader. I still read these blogs as I enjoy them, but polished writing really takes a post from amateur to professional and reflects well on the author.
xo Aya
http://www.girlfromnorthlondon.co.uk
Hanneke says
You are so right and when I think of it, this is exactly how I wrote my blogposts. I just never really thought about why I do it this way, it just feels natural. First I make notes on my iPhone, I copy those to Word and then tweak the final draft in WordPress. Sometimes the final version differs a bit from the Word version, because when you format it (I don’t format the Word draft, I only add html for the headings), you get to see the bigger picture much better, especially when you have added photo’s that go with your story.
Angela says
Oh, I love to make notes on my phone too, especially when I’m out. I really will forget if I don’t, ha!
Berry Dakara says
I really should do better with editing my blog posts. I use my laptop, so there’s really no reason not to use a spell/grammar check tool before posting. Thanks for the reminder.
Berry Dakara Blog
Amy Sewell says
All of my posts are written and edited in OneNote. Since I travel constantly for TV appearances, I can easily access drafts from my iPhone, iPad or laptop – and pick up right where I left off. I always have a couple of dozen posts in-progress, and this has made me much more productive and efficient.
Angela says
Oh interesting! That sounds really convenient for travel… I’ll have to look into it.
Claire says
I like to write out my post outlines in my diary a few days before I sit down to write the post. This makes it a lot less stressful when it comes to writing my post, I know exactly what I want to talk about. Also, I am so bad at grammar. I sometimes get my boyfriend or somebody to read it before I hit publish, but after I upload it I still find little errors that I have to go back and fix. I definitely have to get into the habit of drafting and re-reading my posts before they go live.
Thanks for the helpful insight into your writing process.
Angela says
It really is so helpful to have someone else look at it, thanks for that reminder!
Kate says
I actually love to write out blog posts the old-fashioned way: paper & pen! I’ve found my writing flows much better when I write my rough draft on paper, & then I edit as I’m typing the post into my wordpress site. I usually run through it once more when I click the “preview” button, just to make sure everything looks okay & catch any missed spelling or grammar errors. I’ve been journaling for over 10 years now, so I guess having that much daily writing under my belt is why it’s so much more comfortable for me to write it out by hand.
I also keep a section in my blog post notebook for post ideas, & have a note-taking app on my phone for writing down ideas I get on the road.
Ana says
This is such a great reminder that for something to get done consistently, we need to have a process for it! I’m currently focusing on creating a writing process that will help me be more consistent with my content, and I love the idea of writing first in a notebook or Word doc. I have a hard time making myself write whenever I’m not inspired, but I absolutely love the editing process, so I’ve been trying out writing streams of consciousness as they come, so that when I do have to sit down to write and actually publish something, it’s just a matter of editing what I’e already written, which is also much less daunting when I’m in a writer’s block.
Brenda says
This got me thinking about my process which I’ve been refining this year. I use to write when I felt like it with whatever content I had at that moment. I’m now using Notes from Apple to have a running list of ideas categorized as they come to me. Then I use Calender to schedule those ideas. But I always write in WordPress, saving as draft or scheduling right away. I reread my posts a million times so it takes forever it seems to finish a post, often in one sitting. Now you have me thinking about how to write but have a question. Why write in another app and then copy & paste to the blog platform? Why do you feel it’s best to write it out elsewhere? 😊 First time to your site, it’s wonderful!!
Angela says
Thanks for sharing, Brenda! And glad you found us! As far as writing it in Word or some other editor first before copying, it’s a way to make sure you still have it saved if your site or internet crashes. You can usually recover a backup in your browser or WP but I’ve lost articles by not having it saved. Plus, I like to keep my blog posts somewhere off the internet just to have, since I need writing samples.
The second/biggest thing is that it creates a process of you looking at the article in a fresh way, which makes it easier to spot errors and polish the piece. For me it’s similar to walking away and coming back later, except the change is the app used. You may not need to go through a whole 3-step process, but my point is more that it’s important to revise and edit your work, and not to throw those steps away just because it’s published digitally! It seems like you’re doing all of that already, in your own way!
Courtney says
I totally agree with this!! I see blogs that have lots of typos, missing words, and poorly constructed sentences and it just makes me a bit sad. It makes it harder to read and enjoy their content, along with making their blog seem less professional and poorly-maintained. I usually write my posts in the publisher, but then I wait a few days to go back to edit and revise before I ever publish it. It helps with the grammar and typos, but also with improving the actual content since I might have more or better ideas for the post.
– Courtney
courtneylthings.blogspot.com
Kelsey (Her Daily Glow) says
I’ve only just started my blog so I had not even thought about many of these things. Thank you for sharing, this information is very handy for someone new to the blogging world haha! :)
Rebecca says
Thank you for this! I was starting to think I might be the only one who still liked to write things out by hand first. I’d gotten discouraged with it and started typing directly on the computer (to save time and because I thought maybe it’d help me find my voice a bit better), and just don’t like it anywhere near as much. If you take away the pen and paper it takes the fun out of writing.
I love your blog so much. It is quickly becoming a valuable resource for me. Thank you for doing what you do!
Angela says
Thank you Rebecca! Our thoughts exactly.