The Writing Process for Writers Who Don’t Have One
As writers when applying for jobs or starting projects with new collaborators we’re often asked about our writing process. We all have one or maybe a few. It might depend on the subject matter, the medium, and time constraints. It might be something tried and tested, that has held up reliably over the years or it might be something more malleable and constantly evolving as you grow and hone your craft.
Recently I’ve been thinking about the need to articulate these steps and what my own writing process entails. So here they are. These are the steps and practices that help me complete articles, blog posts, and all sorts of writing projects. You can do them in the order that suits you and your work best. Let’s get into it.
1. Write it Out
No, I’m not crazy. I have a smartphone, laptop, and tablet, but when I’m starting a project I still put pen to paper first. Of course, this depends pretty heavily on how much time I have to complete the project and how in-depth it needs to be. But when time allows, writing the old fashioned way is my favourite. In my experience, it’s also the most effective way to get the ball rolling and the ideas flowing. This is the part where I brainstorm and write down general, random, unstructured ideas that come to mind when I think about this particular subject or project.
2. Create an SEO Plan
Although I’m a fan of physically writing things down, I know that my content needs to thrive in the digital world. That’s why I create an SEO plan for each project. This is a great way to make sure that your amazing articles get read and that your site and pages rank well on Google.
Do some exploring with a tool like Ubersuggest or Google Keyword Planner to figure out the best keywords for you to use in your content, headlines, URL, and meta descriptions.
You can also simply search for relevant keywords on Google and scroll to the bottom where you’ll find the “related keywords” list. To get an idea of how competitive each keyword is all you have to do is look at the top of the search results page (as shown in the image below).
Here you can see that the keyword “how to write a blog post” generates about 1, 460, 000, 000 results. All of those are your competition for this particular keyword.
If you’re writing for a small to medium-sized blog or brand this simple test can give you ideas for more specific, less competitive keywords to use that will still help you reach the right audience. By opting for less general and slightly less competitive keywords, you have a better chance of ranking higher and being seen by your audience. These same related keywords (at the bottom of the SRP) can also help you hone in on more specific ideas for content.
3. Articulate Your Objective
The first thing I write down when I’m getting into the first draft and structure of my piece is the word “objective.” This is crucial and it’s something to keep in mind at every stage of your writing and revising.
What is the purpose of this piece? What is it meant to accomplish and who is it meant to reach? I always aim to have an objective that answers these key questions about what I’m going to write. It also helps me to focus on the core purpose of the piece, what I want readers to get out of it, and who my readers might be.
4. Create an Outline
This is where the more in-depth brainstorming begins. I do my best to come up with what might be the final headlines for each section of my piece. Headlines are the most important part of your online article regardless of topic or medium. They’re definitely a work in progress in the earlier writing stages, but you should devote a lot of time and effort to them even when you’re starting out. According to Copyblogger, “on average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of your title, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece.”
Underneath each prospective headline, I also jot down a few points regarding the main message of each section, the angle I want to take, and how I want my reader to benefit from each section. This helps me once again to keep my writing as structured as possible.
This is a practice I use a lot in creative writing. Simply pick a time frame, let’s say three minutes, and write non-stop for that amount of time. Even if you’re writing “blah, blah, blah, I don’t know what to write here.” That’s fine. Just keep going for the allotted time. The point is to get your creative juices flowing. You can even try to do a bit of freewriting under each section of your outline in order to optimize your time.
If you already have a more structured idea of what to write then, by all means, begin your first draft as you normally would.
Pro tip: Don’t be too quick to discard content that doesn’t make it into your final draft. Save all of these bits of writing in a separate document because they might come in handy later on if you decide to write about a related topic.
