Earlier this year I committed to writing a blog a day for 40 days.
The idea was to build my archive, share more of my ideas and create the habit of regular blogging.
I broke the streak after about day 12 ?♀️, but I did learn some cool things in the process…
One: I get bored quickly, and I’m easily distracted by the next fun thing ?
However, I also learned to find my writing voice, developed my style, and uncovered some very handy habits for writing FAST, and actually getting it DONE.
If you want to write more frequently, but struggle with getting it “perfect” or seem to have lost your voice, follow these 5 stages to set yourself on the right track and get your writing out there! (Where it can do good in the world ✨)
- Inspiration
- Draft
- Editing
- Reflection
- Expansion
Stage 1: Inspiration ✨
Ok, so you’ve got the tickle of an idea in your mind.
This is your contemplation stage, where you dedicate some defined “sitting” time to mull it over.
I like to get comfy on my sofa by the window. I take a pad and paper (or my phone) for notes.
And then I simply sit back and let the thoughts come to me. I jot down ideas that pop into my mind. Nothing serious, just a list, or some words. Sometimes I’ll get a phrase or perhaps a title.
In my mind, I ask myself questions like:
- What do I know about this topic?
- What stories can I share?
- What lessons can I teach?
- How do I feel about it? How might the reader feel about it?
- What are some helpful tips or advice?
- How does this relate to other topics I’ve written about?
During this inspiration stage, what’s most important is that you give yourself freedom to think of disconnected ideas. You don’t need to visualise the whole piece coming together. You don’t need to put it in structure yet.
This is no time for editing or fleshing out ideas. It’s just a brainstorm. It’s creative time. Yes, you’re making notes, but you should be spending the majority of this time in THOUGHT, not hunched over an empty notepad willing yourself to think of what to write.
Just THINK. Your brain is really powerful and it will come up with the answers if you get out of the way.
Stage 2: Draft ✍️
AKA: Just Write Badly.
This is so important, and it’s the stage where most people freeze.
I have many unfinished blogs in my Dropbox graveyard because I used to spend way too long trying to craft the perfect opening paragraph, and never made it past the first sentence.
Let me say it really clearly:
**Your first draft does not have to be your final polished copy!**
In order to get to the editing stage, you have to have something to edit. You can’t edit a blank page, believe me, I’ve tried!
Your ideas are trapped in your mind, and if you want to set them free, you need to create the flow with your fingers on the keyboard and not stop. Just start at wherever you think the start is, and get it all out. Do not stop for thinking, do not search your thesaurus… and can I just say… f*ck typos in this stage!
Your ideas will not spill out onto the page if you keep stopping every 10 seconds to fix your spelling or choose the ultimate adjective.
The turning point for me was when I discovered this game-changing technique:
When it’s time to write, I’ve found it MOST helpful to set a tight time limit, like 20 to 30 minutes.
You might feel like you need all the time in the world to relax and be creative, but in reality, the best creativity comes from pressure and restrictions like deadlines.
(Also, after about 20 minutes of forcing yourself to keep writing, your powerful unconscious mind wakes up and joins the party, and the good stuff begins to flow – my second half is usually way more cohesive and interesting than my first half!)
Hot tip: Don’t reread your previous sentences – it will only slow you down!
I find that if I stop to go back and edit the previous sentence, I lose momentum. Just keep going, no matter how uninspired that previous sentence was. If I think I could have said it better, I don’t edit it, I just write the alternative straight after. Editing comes next, I promise, and THEN you can delete all the crappy words.
Stage 3: Editing ??
Now that your ideas are all on the page, you can breathe a contented sigh of relief. Isn’t that so much better? You’re over the hardest part!
You are now welcome to edit, because you actually have some content to work with ?
This fleshing out stage usually flows on from the deadline, or at least pretty soon after, while the ideas are still fresh.
Here is where you spend the biggest chunk of time. I generally don’t set a time limit for this, unless it’s like a “due by Friday” sort of thing.
I’ll look for things like…
- Ideas flowing in a logical order
- The paragraphs make sense
- Am I telling a story?
- The tone sounds like I’m speaking (that’s my style)
- Not repeating the same words in subsequent sentences
- The main point is clear all the way through
- Ensure there is value for the reader
- The title matches the content and is click-worthy
- And yes, I’ll fix my typos now ?
In stage 3, I spend more contemplation time. I’ll get the thesaurus, I’ll find the links I’ve mentioned and insert them. I might move paragraphs around, and choose sub-heading titles, or phrases to bold.
The aim here is to get it to 90% ready. Depending on the content and how important this article is, Stage 3 could take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours.
Stage 4: Reflection ?️
Once I’m happy with my blog, I’ll leave it for a few days.
I’ll save the final draft somewhere I can access it easily, like the notes app on my phone.
During the reflection stage, I’ll reread it constantly, and make little upgrades as I go. Change a word here, move a sentence around there. Delete what’s not relevant. Find another typo.
Personally, I find that the more often I go over it, the better the final will be. Every time you read, you’ll find something more to upgrade.
Also, our brains are so frickin powerful! The unconscious keeps working even when we’re not actively attending to something. It’ll come up with more concise ways to phrase an idea, or a catchier title.
Now, don’t let yourself fall into the trap of never publishing.. remember my mantra “done is better than perfect”
You MUST publish your blog so it can reach more people and start doing good in the world, but DO give yourself some time to contemplate and upgrade it before you go live. If not, you’ll find yourself rereading it online later and wishing you’d said something differently (or spotting another typo!)
Stage 5: Expansion ?
Aside from posting on your website, this piece of well-crafted content can now be repurposed for many other uses.
I love to take the blog and split it into social media snippets. I’ll highlight individual ideas, or make a delightful summary with bullet point tips, create colourful quote cards, and sometimes even do a video discussing the topic.
You really can (and should) use each piece of content you create more than once.
✨ ✨ ✨
These stages are not limited to blogs, of course. Using this, you can write anything… articles, emails, website pages, client proposals, your bio, your course content…
Halfway through writing this draft, I decided it would be a great idea to save each version of this blog throughout the various stages, so I can show you my process and share the journey with you!
Here you’ll see the notes I made on my phone, during the sitting and thinking of Stage 1:
For Stage 2, I‘ve saved the first draft in it’s complete unedited glory (click here to open), which I’m pretty sure will sound and flow completely different to the final version you’re reading right now because I wrote it in 20 minutes at 4:30am before I headed off to a 13-hour shift at my day job.
And then, rather than show you each tiny edit I made, I kept a tally of how many times I revisited the blog to reread and make upgrades (7). I saved the blog on my “notes” app so I could get to it as soon as inspiration struck. This tally covers Stages 3 and 4, and each edit varied in time from a 2.5-hour bus ride, to a few minutes sitting on the loo.
Finally, I’ve shared a couple of screenshots of the social posts I created from the one piece of content during Stage 5. You’ll see that everything you create really is so versatile!
Even though I didn’t stick to my original 40 blogs in 40 days, I learned heaps that I’ve been using in my writing ever since.
I developed easy writing habits, found the flow of my voice, and discovered these stages I can share with you… to hopefully inspire you and help you on YOUR journey to inspire even more people by writing about your unique experiences and sharing your gifts with the world.
I would love to know your thoughts on these stages and if they help you with your writing? Which stage do you get stuck at?
Love,
Cat xx
