If you blog at all, whether that's as a creative outlet, as a business venture, or something in between ... you might find that you often stare at the screen wondering where to begin.
Even
when you get started on a post, you may well end up getting stuck half-way through.
In eight years (yikes) of blogging, I've found that structure makes a massive difference. A well-structured post is easy to read and easy to write: it follows a logical path, and doesn't meander off in the middle.
So how do you nail down the structure of your post? Here are four simple things to try:
#1:
Think Beginning, Middle, End
Like almost any piece of writing, blog posts need a beginning, middle, and end. For blogging, I normally call these "introduction, main body, conclusion".
One of the most common mistakes I see is posts that lack any sort of conclusion. They just stop. A sentence or two to round things off will really help, especially if you give your reader a specific action to take (e.g. inviting
them to leave a comment).
#2: Use Subheadings
Subheadings help split your post into manageable chunks, or "subsections". They act as signposts to the reader -- and, if you plan your post, they'll often correspond to key points in the plan.
My personal rule of thumb is to use subheadings in any post over 500 words. Normally, I'll try to have at least two
subheadings.
#3: Keep Things Parallel
If you've ever written a bullet-pointed list, you probably know it's important that your list items fit together neatly.
For instance, this list doesn't really sound right:
- Weed the flowerbeds
- Mowing the lawn
- Tidy
But this list does:
- Weed the flowerbeds
-
Mow the lawn
- Tidy the patio
The same principle applies to subheadings. Where possible, make them match in some way: you might start them all with an "ing" verb, or simply keep them all roughly the same length.
Within subsections, you can follow a similar principle. For instance, if your post is split into three key sections, you might end each with a "Quick tip" or "Further reading"
suggestion.
I hope this helps you with your blog posts. If you've got a particular question about blogging (or any type of writing), do email it in -- I'll be very happy to
address it in a future newsletter.
