Why you need Discipline when Writing your Blog

Finding the time and energy at the end of a busy week to sit down in front of your PC for 4–6 hours drafting your next blog post can be a little overwhelming for some of us. This is certainly true when I first started blogging some 8 months ago.

And yet here I am sitting in front of my PC for the next 4 hours compiling this blog for you to read and hopefully for you to get some benefit from my work.

To be absolutely honest, I use to hate blogging because I knew it would take me all day to compose and edit and then finally publish my work.

Now it’s a completely different story.

It’s mid afternoon on Sunday and that’s me just starting this post.

So, you see it’s true what they say “the more you practice the better you become”.

So how do you get from a newbie to someone who is no longer afraid to post every week and not worry what other people say or think of you.

Well, the hardest part about writing, is getting one’s self to actually start writing. Most writers usually hate to write but love it when they have finished writing. To be able to escape this process, what some writers do is procrastinate.

Having this attitude really does not get anything done. One of the basic reason why some think this way is because they are afraid to fail. They also put tremendous pressure upon themselves, thinking that whatever writing that they should do and produce must be brilliant.

The fact of the matter is that no writer, or person for that matter, is perfect. Everyone has flaws and having imperfections is the perfect reason why more writing should be done.

Discipline is important. Without this, nothing will get done or will get written. Having discipline causes any writer, especially those who write articles for the internet, to think clearly and go beyond his or her mundane concerns. When one has discipline, the focus is on the output and not on the ego.

Discipline serves as a guide

Having discipline enables anyone to think in a lucid manner. It also helps in coming up of ways to present the details and facts of an article. A disciplined mind gets things done easily.

Using a guide in numbering the characters that should be present on each line of a given article is an easy and controlled way to limit as well as define what it is to write about and how.

Observe how doing this and setting a limit to one’s self actually helps the writer compose the article thereby avoiding awkward breaks in each sentence. When this is done, readability of the article is achieved as well as the topic at hand becomes a whole lot clearer.

Discipline helps achieve focus

There are a million things to write about as well as there are a million things to say. Having discipline makes it a lot easier to select a particular idea or subject. A general issue could still be broken down in sub topics and start from there.

The words to be used for such an article must also be appropriate to the kind of reader targeted. Once this is decided upon, selecting the appropriate mood, be it serious, funny, etc. would be a lot easier.

Having discipline makes it easier to break a topic down

If it is simply too overwhelming to write an article in one get up and go fashion, the only solution is — don’t write it.

Discipline yourself to think of the article in easy and convenient small chunks. Take each idea as one paragraph. Then think of another idea in terms of another paragraph. Then, make a simple outline of the article as well as the issues and topics that will cover it.

Discipline yourself to just let go

Writing is a process. It is best that writing be not forced. Such an attitude produces an article that is stiff, unreadable and — most likely — unlikable.

Discipline yourself to just write

A lot of things could crop up inside one’s head about the article one is intending to write.

It is easy to be distracted about other topics that could be included in the article, or other issues, as well as other subtopics.

It is best that one should just stick to the current topic at hand. Topics or issues that are off the main points must be avoided.

Remember that the objective is to write, complete and finish the article. Entertaining any and all forms of distractions will not be helpful.

Be disciplined to not edit — at least not yet

In any first drafts, the key to writing completely is to let the ideas just flow. Editing must and will have to come at a later part. Editing is not part of the writing process, at least in this stage where thoughts really just have to flow, so let it.

Be disciplined to re-read and review the article

After the writing is complete, this is the perfect and best time to start reading it as well as reviewing it. First time drafts must be proofread. This is also the best time to start editing.

Check and find out which parts seem to lag. Is there any weak idea that needs backing up? Are there no spelling errors in the article? Are there any errors in grammar? Such mistakes must be paid attention to as it could distract the readers from the idea and point of the article.

Discipline yourself to relax

After writing, let the article stand or sit on its own. Get up and eat, sleep, read, watch television or simply get out.

Discipline yourself to re-write

Getting back to the article after a considerable amount of time away from it enables anyone to look at it with fresh eyes.

Check the title. Review if the sentences are complete thoughts. Delete or re-write what needs to be edited or re-written.

Well-written articles should be satisfying and not leave readers wanting to have more.

Discipline yourself to make the article known

After all is said, written and done, it is now time to send the article out. Readers should be appropriately advised where the article came from, who wrote it or if there is any link related to the article and its source.

In summary, discipline helps anyone, especially in writing, start and finish a task with a process that is methodical and one that actually works. All one needs is discipline to carry it through.

Ever wondered what people think when they visit your blog? If you’re like most bloggers, you get a few comments but not enough to know whether most people like your blog or not. Maybe they read it, love it, and you never know about it. Or maybe they see something they don’t like and are off browsing before you have time to shout “hey, there’s good stuff here!”

To make matters a little worse, what turns people away is often a small thing. It might be a bad colour scheme or the lack of a clear title so people know what they’re reading about. It might be too much text and not enough pictures. Whatever it is, you can lose readers fast.

Here are some of the things you can do to make sure that your blogging activities get rewarded by more than just comments and praises:

• Reader Friendly Content: At all costs keep your content — articles, poems, photographs, videos — reader friendly, that is to say, it should keep more and more readers interested. Your reader must be at the centre of you post in a way that your reader must feel that he is gaining something out of reading your post. This is the basic rule in marketing.
• Worthwhile: Never let the reader feel that he has been tricked into reading your post or clicking on your blog link. You are thwarting all your long term chances of that reader coming back to your blog, in which case your blog rankings over the long term are in a dicey position.
• Check for errors: Making grammatical and spelling errors can be a major put off for many readers. They may not visit your blog again simply because the errors that you make are too high. Always proof read your blog. A small typo here and there can be understood, but make sure you don’t make any major errors.
• KISS: Or, Keep It Short and Simple. This is the thumb rule you must follow at all point. Long winding posts tend to get boring. And it may contain nothing that is interesting to the reader. Also no one has the time enough for your blog, no matter how well you write. In fact, your blog will be much more appreciated if you put your thoughts simply and shortly.
• Interesting: Make sure that you hold your reader’s attention by making your posts snazzy. They must not be written in a tone that is tiring to read. Write short sentences and keep then crisp and precise. Always hit the point immediately in the course of your article.
• Link: Keep linking the blogs you read to yours in order to build a network those people will be in turn encouraged to link you. Remember, linking increases rankings.
• Keywords: Using the keywords of your posts frequently increases the search ability of that particular article of yours which in turn leads more people to visit your blog.
• Clear Thoughts: Make sure you put your thought clearly before the readers so that it does not become tedious for them to read.
• Post Title: A catchy post title or headline is half your business solved. It can glue a reader to your post almost immediately. However, do not put misleading post titles, or you will lose creditability. So, be consistent with your blog content and watch traffic flowing in to your blog!

To your Blogging success

David Jones

CEO,Global Digital Affiliate Marketing