I probably have 10+ blog post ideas written down somewhere in my notebook but I can never get myself to just sit down and write. Even if I do I get I start slacking off after one or two posts.
I think two of my main problems is not having an audience and writing it for myself just feels weird. Especially when in my circle of friends there are rarely design or tech savvy people to discuss the topics I am interested in or that I write about.
The second one is that I feel my writing is not good enough. I feel like the main ideas are there but every time I finish a piece it comes off like i have "tried too hard" or "cheesy".
Some tips on writing, blogging or creating an audience would be greatly appreciated.
It something that i feel that I would love to do, just sit down once a week and write something in theory but never happens in practice.
wtf
Blood, sweat & finger-tears!
Like flossing, it takes habit. I make boastful promises on my blog of post frequency, then try to stick to them. Also, I don't think every post will be well written, but you can always go back and edit.
I also like to use my blog as a dumping ground for ideas, and they eventually get worked up to a finished article, or relegated to the dustbin of ideas that didn't quite work.
A good tip is to use http://fiverr.com/ to find someone to proof read/edit grammar if you feel your writing is not incredible. It's only a few bucks, and someone can help you with the posts grammar and that jazz.
I always do that before I publish a post, just to make sure the writing level is up to snuff.
Don't listen to the crap about just doing it. While it's "write" on (sorry I had to!), to build habits you need small steps.
Day One. Write down the headlines of the 5 articles you want to write.
Day Two. Take one article and flesh out an outline. I do this by thinking of what the h3s, and h4s for the article will be.
Day Three. Write down some key phrases you want to get across, don't edit yourself, just jot it down.
Day Four. Wake up early, don't do anything else in the am but grab your iPhone/iPad /Notepad and write. Something without distractions.
It's really important to have a distraction free writing environment, no notifications, no email, nothing. I usually start steps 1 and 2 on my iPhone notes app which I then directly transfer to Medium.
Also don't worry about your audience, just write things you would want to read yourself.
You wireframe your designs, you can wireframe your writing.
every time I finish a piece it comes off like i have "tried too hard" or "cheesy".
If you don't allow yourself to write terrible stuff every once in a while you'll never get any good.
I find that when I make a list of things to blog about, they never see the light of day. As soon as you have an idea for an article, you're best chance of actually capturing that thought is to write about it immediately. Whenever you feel like you're in the mood to write, take advantage of the opportunity and crank out a handful of drafts. After that, you can spread out the publishing dates and wait for the next writing frenzy.
I find having Evernote synced to every device means I can scribe on the move and in transit. You'd be surprised how focused you can be on a train and having the ability add to or edit a post anywhere makes a big difference if you're keeping it front of mind.
Murat is right though. Simply put it take hard work & discipline. The more you write more natural it will feel.
You prioritize it and just start writing.
Its a skill that is invaluable to learn as a designer ( I would even claim it will make you a much better designer)
But it requires you to care about it not just do it because you think its a great idea.
If nothing else, do what I do. Write to get your concept down on "paper".
Mirroring what a lot of people are saying on here...you've just gotta sit down and write. The more you flex that writing muscle, the easier it is to write.
For me, mindmapping helps out a lot when I've got a topic that I need to flesh out.
LOL at the first comment.
I am the same way, I rarely blog, if ever. I've noticed that for me, using a blogging network like Medium or Svbtle make it a lot easier. You get the instant gratification of getting views without pushing people to the content.
You can also share on Medium which helps me get other eyes on it prior to publishing.
Yeah I have noticed that Svbtle and Medium make it slightly easier, I have tried writing on both platforms. Still creating a stable audience seems like a challenge no matter what the platform.
Well yeah. If it was easy everyone would be doing it, wouldn't they?
I think that right there is the reason you might struggle to blog consistently (or at all). You can't write for anybody else (unless, of course, that's your job).
No, you have to find something you actually care about, and then (and this is the real trick I think) write it as if you were writing to yourself in the past...the past version of yourself who hadn't yet realized or discovered what it is you're writing about.
Why do it this way?
Well, when you write for yourself you are more inclined to do it regularly (since you're getting something out of it), and when you approach it this way you'll find that what you write (whether it's well put together or not) sparks something in other people...the other people who were very much like you before they read what you've written.
If you haven't caught on yet: this is how you build an audience.
So, my advice (as someone who has been blogging regularly for the past six years at creativesomething.net) is this:
Find something you are actually interested in exploring more. It can be something that's completely new to you (like quantum computing and how it relates to design), or something you're already a professional at but have never really sat down to explore (like the fundamentals of web design).
Write, even when you don't feel like it or don't think you have anything worthwhile to write. Write about how you don't have anything to write about and how you hope to overcome that. Write about something new you read the other day regarding your topic. Write about how you imagine a particular aspect of your topic, then research that topic in as much depth as you can, and follow-up what you originally wrote with what you learned through the research.
Forget about building an audience. If that's the sole reason you're writing, you've already lost (because, honestly, nobody gives two shits about what you have to say).
Dig in deep. You may get a few home run entries on your blog when you write for some length of time. But nearly always that traffic will disappear, never to return. The only reason people will come back to your blog (a.k.a. become part of the audience you're longing for) is if you consistently write interesting things.
If you're still struggling for ideas and all that, I actually did a webinar for Moz some time ago that covers the very topic, called: How to blog like you mean it. Check it out here: http://moz.com/webinars/from-nothing-to-expert-how-to-blog-like-you-mean-it
Good luck!
Thanks Tanner, really great advice in here. Will get on it right away!
wanted to let you guys know that I have started following all your advice and went ahead and wrote this post :)
http://blog.artingraphics.net/the-belated-new-years-resolution
