Dear That Kid Who Wants to Know How to Craft a Great Blog Post

I must go through this conversation eight hundred fifty-four thousand times (number approximate) whenever I do a unit on blogging.

FADE IN:

INT: CLASSROOM - LAST PERIOD OF THE DAY

Intractable Young Human and I sit behind TEACHER’S DESK staring at a blank blog.

ME: So, buddy, you have not written any posts yet.

INTRACTABLE YOUNG HUMAN: Yeah, I started one, but it wasn’t good so…

ME:  The thing is, we are on post #4 and you haven’t done any, so…

IYH: I don’t have anything to write.

ME: But...you could pick ANY topic you wanted for your blog. I thought you were really into Yu-Gi-Oh!?

IYH: Yeah but I don’t know what to write.

ME:  The thing is, you need to get something down. Then we can work with it.

IYH: *stares blankly at me, hint of disdain and anger in the eyes*

ME:  *begins slowly banging head on desk*
And...scene!

This conference usually leaves both of us feeling defeated and accusatory. I feel as though you’re just not doing your job (writing posts for your blog). You feel as though I’m not doing my job (showing you how to do that). This usually leads to sulking, parent contact, anger, crying, binge eating, and other assorted unhelpful reactions. The end result is the same: a forlorn, empty blog, bereft of posts and hope.

Staring into the void of an empty blog.

I have learned in my many years of teaching that you can not control people’s behavior. You really can not make anyone do anything. Sure, you can point out and reinforce consequences, but that, at best, only leads to feigned compliance. No one wants to read that writing. (Sidenote: I once had a young man who titled his blog “The Pointless Blog”. It was a blog about blogging being useless. If only the writing was as creative as the concept!)

All of this is to say that I want to try and show you how to write a proper post. Without further ado, here are the steps I use:

Step 1: Planning

At this stage you are just casting about for ideas. Think about your topic and what gets you jazzed about that topic. Don’t judge your ideas, just write them down. I often save my ideas in the drafts section of my blog.

Future post ideas.

After I have an idea I want to work with, I start writing down all my thoughts on the topic. Again, no judgement at this point. After I have an idea of what I will want to include in the post, I do a hasty outline, then I start writing.

My notes for this post.

Step 2: Writing

This step is the hardest one. One of the trainers that yells at my wife while she does workout dvds once said "The hardest part of working out is putting on your shoes." The hardest part of blogging is actually stacking one word after the other. You've done your heavy thinking in your planning, so for this part just follow your plan. Most first drafts stink, and that's ok. Just get it down. You'll work on it in...

Photo by Matthew Henry

Step 3: Revising

Here's where you do the judging you have been putting off during this whole process. Read your words out loud. Do they make sense? Do you have an interesting hook? Have you covered all the idea you wanted to? Does it read like you only wrote it because you had to? Make it interesting to read!

Step 4: Editing

Time for more judging! Read it out loud (yes, again). Do you hear any errors? Do you have trouble reading a word because it is misspelled? Are their words with redlines under them? Have you tried using editMinion or grammarly? How about trying that one friend of yours who diagrams sentences for fun? Maybe even hit up your dear old mom.

Step 5: Bells and Whistles

For this step, I look back at the post for places I can add headings, links, and pictures. Blogs are a fun medium to work with, because you can play with your text. Add things to break up those long blocks of words. Make it visually appealing to help keep your reader involved. Anytime I can get a picture of a cute dog into a post, I try to do it.

Photo by Joanna Malinowska

Find places for pictures that are free to use or try taking your own, like did earlier in this post. Use headings to breakup your content and include links that your readers will find helpful. This is also a good time to add labels or tags.

Step 6: Last Look

Before you hit publish, hit preview. Take a last look at your post and think about it from the reader's perspective. Did you say everything you wanted to say in an interesting, informative way? Is the post visually appealing? Once you are satisfied, take a deep breath and publish.

Step 7: Let People Know

Now, tell your friends and have them read it. If you are particularly proud, tweet it, snap it, or whatever it and let the world know. Also, let me know, so I can finally stop banging my head on my desk.

Any questions you still have? Let me know in the comments!