Writing, It’s Not as Easy as It Seems

When it comes to writing a blog post the very first thing you have to think about is your topic, for me that’s the hardest part. Finding or thinking of a topic to write about can at times be the most time-consuming part of the process. When trying to decide on a topic you have to make sure it’s not only something you would find interesting, but something that others will think is interesting as well.

After you’ve decided on the topic or at least have an idea on the topic you wish to write about, you then must consider the purpose, why’re you writing the blog post? Who is it for? Who are you writing to? All of this will help you narrow down on your topic and help you to really focus your writing. Without considering who your target audience is and why you’re even writing the piece in the first place, your writing can start to go all over the place and make you lose focus of the entire purpose of the article

Normally after I’ve established my topic, target audience, and purpose I then think of the tone I want my article to carry. Do I want to sound; serious, funny, sad, neutral, etc… the tone you have in your article is essential because you don’t want to be writing an article about a topic as serious as world hunger for example and the tone of your article coming across as unserious or funny to your audience. It will make readers lose respect for you and view you as insensitive. The tone of your article is extremely important, it can make or break your article.

The next step is the outline, creating an outline for my article helps me to organize my thoughts and figure out how I want my article to flow. Some people may just decide to write the article off the top of their heads, no outline necessary which is fine this step is truly optional it just depends on the person. For me personally I like organization, so I need an outline written down to help me organize my thoughts and figure out how I want my article to be structured.

Once my outline is cr

eated, I will then start brainstorming my ideas for each paragraph and just start putting my ideas down under each section and letting my ideas flow. From there the writing process normally takes over and I just start writing my article. If I get stuck or have writers block, I normally take a step back, reread what I have so far, take a short break, and come back to it. I also take breaks from writing periodically to reread what I have and edit my article. Whether that means taking away things that no longer make sense, correcting my grammar or punctuation, or adding new pieces of information that came to my head. This process is what I find to be most effective when writing my articles, it also helps me do them faster in my opinion.

To recap the writing process in my opinion goes as follows:

1.    Find your topic

2.    Decide the purpose of your article, as well as your target audience.

3.    Find the tone of your article, and make sure it’s appropriate

4.    Create an outline and jot down your thoughts

a.     This step is optional, if you don’t need it feel free to proceed to the next step

5.    Let the writing process flow

a.     Write and take breaks as needed in order to refresh your mind, edit your article, etc…