My Process for Writing Every Day
Photo via Daniel Pape on Flickr
I'm in the last week of my 31-day cause marketing challenge and I'm ready to take some questions from readers.
One reader asks: "What's your process for writing every day? Is it hard?"
I'll get to the question about whether it's hard in a minute. Let me explain the process first.
I publish first thing in the morning. I read the post I wrote the day before once for edits, etc. and then hit publish. I then share it on social media and add the post to the draft of my email newsletter, which goest out on Wednesdays.
I immediately start working on the next day's post. If I don't do it first thing I'll never do it! Throughout the month, I've only had one or two posts in the bank. I rarely write more than one post a day. Sadly, I don't write in a Moleskin. I know, that would be so cool if I did. I write on a MacBook Pro. 😃
I start by digging into my "blog ideas" folder in Pocket. I read through the articles until I hit on one that will be "my muse" for my post. From there, I come up with my FLW (Famous Last Words) - one sentence that capture what my post is all about. Then I start writing.
I shoot for 300 to 500 words. When you are writing every day you have to keep things short! However, I like the shorter format. I'd rather write short about a bunch of topics than long about one or two. I edit as I write and reread the post a couple of times. And, yes, it does get easier to write as the days fly by! A first draft of a post usually takes me 30 to 60 minutes to write. Yeah, I'm kind of a slow writer. But I've gotten faster this month!
I head over to Flickr for an image. I used to get my images from anywhere. I've been lucky. In all the years I've been blogging, no one has every complained that I took their image without acknowledging or paying them. But I've decided I've been pushing my luck. Now, I use images under Creative Commons. I wish I had the time to create a custom image over at Canva. But I never took that extra step.
For the rest of the day I read, read, read. When I'm not working, I'm reading something - and saving any good blog ideas I find to Pocket. Sometimes I read something that makes me say, "I'm going to write about that tomorrow!" But most days I have no clue what I'm going to write about until I look in my "blog ideas" folder. Like most writers, I prefer reading to writing so this is really the best part of the whole process! I love to read and learn.
Is it hard writing every day? No, it's actually a lot of fun and very satisfying. I really enjoy producing something every day and hitting the publish button. I highly recommend it! The challenge is balancing writing my daily post with my regular work, recording a podcast and producing my weekly newsletter.
What do you think? Will you give daily writing a try?
