Christopher Bowness
5 simple blog writing questions from creative people answered.
The business I run and the way I work comes from a very creative place, a spontaneous place and often in the moment place. So how do I even begin to write posts with a creative mind.
Over the last 15 years of trying to write blog posts and email newsletters I have been on a journey from struggling to write anything at all to building up a comprehensive library of blog posts on a whole range of my favourite subjects.
I have really struggled over the years with the pressure to write and plan time in the week to write blog posts ending up in massive frustration from a day staring at a blank screen. So I started asking the right questions and then discovering the answers.
In this blog post I want to share with you the 5 simple questions I asked myself which may help you get clear on what's going on and also share my answers to help you discovering what will work for you.
1 Where do I start with writing blogs?
This is one of the questions I get asked a lot and the answer I discovered myself was to write a list of topics and ideas which you love. They don't even have to be fully formed right now they can just act as guides.
Take a notebook with you EVERYWHERE and allow the subjects to come up throughout the day, Maybe it's an important question a client asked and you document the answer. Maybe it's a recurring theme that keeps arising.
The important thing is to be spontaneous and be authentic write about what you love and what you're passionate about not what you think will get the most hits. Start off simple and the topics will start flowing over time the content will form.
2 How should I write?
If you work creatively like myself this was one of the biggest challenges I faced. I knew that planning my time at the computer was killing my creativity and as such getting anything productive done.
It's funny how often I got told planning time and how putting whole days aside for blog writing as the right way to do things. I started thinking that I was not very good at it and should probably give up.
However, I realised in order to actually write I had to play to my strengths and treat my blog posts as I would any other of my creative endeavours. I don't come up with my ideas when I'm sat at a computer I come up with my best ideas when I'm doing ordinary things or completely switched off. I realised in order to create great blogs I needed to be doing the things I loved.
3 When should I write?
This question actually became a stumbling block in my blog writing journey. I would come up with the topics and the content started to come forward and I would be eager to get in front of the computer I would often end up finding myself completely locked up in front of the screen.
What I realised this time was that not having a fully formed idea of the content of the blog post was causing me to either ramble on or just get locked up. I returned to my notebook and decided I would draw on some of the techniques I use mind maps and visualisation.
Now I realise that I didn't need to have 100% of the blog post to be formed before getting to the laptop but I needed a strong outline of ideas I wanted to pick up on. Capturing the essence in my notebook and visualising what the finished post looked like really helped me get the posts written.
4 Who should I write for?
This question would overwhelm me and still does if I don't allow myself to drop into the heart centred reason I'm writing the blog post. If I don't get aligned with the writing I find myself trying to write to capture as many people as possible and it becomes watered down.
In order to get really into what I was writing and get authentic I used a technique that I sometimes use in my group workshops speak to one person and allow everyone else a viewpoint as if they are looking into a 1-2-1 session. This creates an intimate experience that not only the client themselves enjoy but the other people in the group get to see the techniques and ideas used as they should be in the moment as an experience and then apply them to themselves.
Here what I decided to do was to write content as if I was addressing one particular person's issue or problem or answer a question someone has been asking. I have found when I am writing as if I'm speaking to one person my writing becomes more intimate and connected and that transcends because I find I end up speaking closely to all the people that resonate with that issue.
5 Have I got to go through this every time I write?
At first this process did take some getting used to but eventually I found my rhythm but I started to wonder if I would have to go through this every time.
Once I found my flow and let my creativity show up and when I could almost have 3 or 4 blog posts on the go without much thinking and change to my day. I found myself enthused to get to my laptop and get the words down. I also didn't stick to any word count and went with how the piece felt. Sometimes 250 would do sometimes I'd write 1500 in 45mins.
Now I have built a library of blogs and I post them when a topic or subject arises or sometimes I will create a theme through the month. Most importantly post when it feels good because people notice that stuff. If your posting because you're after clients people will zone out.
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