Tip Number 1  – Write

It may sound obvious but it’s very easy to say you’re going to start a blog but never get around to writing anything for it. The best tip for any wannabe blogger is just get started.  We can get distracted by having lots of ideas for your blog posts. We put pen to paper and write down these ideas but never get any further because a little voice tells us that nobody will ever read it. Or what we’re writing isn’t very good.

Not all your blog posts are going to be great. But writing nothing will mean that you never write a single great blog post at all. So just start writing and just write everyday. You’ll improve as you go along but you never will get any better unless you start.

Tip Number 2- Always be prepared to write

The great thing about writing is that it can be done anywhere. You an pen a blog post on a train, while you’re waiting for something, in a cafe or whereever you have a few spare moments. But to take advantage of these moments you need to have the utensils so that you can write. It may be you carry a pad of paper and a pen in your bag. Or you may have your laptop so you can type your thoughts straight up.

But always have a method so you can pen your thoughts wherever you are. The number of posts and words you write will soon add up. And you will have lots of material for new blog posts.

Tip Number 3 – Monk Mode Morning

Cal Newport, author of the book Deep Work, recommends having a monk mode morning two times a week to increase productivity. This is a great method to really make progress on writing for your blog.

It’s a fairly simple concept. During your monk mode morning have at least 90 minutes where you don’t have any meetings and any phone calls.. Don’t check your e-mail and social media. In short, switch off from the world and work on your writing. This is a great way to really get some writing completed and done without any interruptions.

You can adapt monk mode mornings to suit your lifestyle. If you have time, twice a week is great but imagine the writing you can complete if you have a monk mode morning 4 to 5 days a week.

Tip Number 4 – Write 250 words everyday

250 words is really not a lot. It is about 2 to 3 paragraphs. But if you do this for 6 months you really will have a massive amount of blog post material for your blog. 250 words every day for 6 months is 45,625 words. If each of your blog posts totals around 1000 words, that’s 45 blog posts in 6 months. If you can increase your word count to 500 words, you can obviously double the amount of blog posts.

It’s not difficult to fit in this amount everyday. Most people can complete this amount of words in about 30 minutes if they put their mind to it. But the pay off if you make this a habit can be phenomenal and it will seem like it didn’t take much effort at all once you’ve complete it.

Tip Number 5 – Life Your Life (Develop Passions, Create Experiences and Learn Things To Write About)

The most interesting blog posts you will write are about things that have a lot of useful knowledge on or have a passion for. To create interesting content and useful information you have to live your life.

Try new things, learn new skills and get involved in groups that excite you. People can get mundain information from people they know but if you know or  have something different that you have experienced that will be useful or entertaining to other people this can make the most popular posts.

Also remember – if it’s boring to write – most likely it’s boring for your reader.

Tip 6 – When Inspiration Hits – Go With It.

Sometimes the best ideas you get for writing are when you are doing something completely unrelated to writing. You might be in the shower, watching a youtube video or out shopping. You think ” I must write this down later”, but when you get the time, you’ve lost that spark. You’ve forgotten exactly what you’re going to write and that bit of life and inginutity has gone.

Don’t wait to write a paragraph or two on this idea you have. It may mean you have to make your writing a priority. But take 5 minutes in the supermarket, get out of the shower or stop that video. In order to do this goes back a little bit to the advice in point 2. You have to be prepared. Have a pad or another writing utensil with you. It will only take 5 or 10 minutes to get this writing done and then you may have completed at 100 words of your 250 daily word limit.

Tip 7 – Read and Watch

Writers read a lot. Reading has many advantages as a writer. Firstly reading can inspire you to take action and write. Reading widely and in different formats (books, newspapers, blogs, magazine articles) can give you the spark you need to write about topics. Even reading tweets and social media posts can give you the spark of inspiration needed to write that day.

The Internet is an amazing source, if you’re stuck you can just google topics you want to write about and you’ll have numerous articles and ideas to get your started. As well as reading the material already mentioned, you can read internet chat sites, forums and find quotes.

Another way to get inspiration is to watch videos. You-tube is a great source of information and again it can ignite your writing by giving you new ideas. Ted Talks are a fantastic videos to watch on whole range of topics and is a great place to start. But watch TV programmes, videos, movies or whatever interests you. Keep a pen and paper by your side (point number 2) to take any notes.

Another advantage of reading lots, is that your writing gets better. You pick up and tend to use a wider range of vocabulary and expression. Reading enables you to experience different formats, voices and styles. This can help you practice different skills in your own writing. Having a notepad by your side while reading can be useful as you can take notes of any words, styles or interesting things to remember for your own work.

Tip 8 – Try New Styles Of Writing

This is one I definitley have to work on but try new styles of writing your blog posts. You will see different bloggers have different styles. Two of my favorite bloggers have very different writing styles but I get so much out of both of them. Steve Pavlina writes long informative posts with high word counts. Seth Godin writes very short insightful posts, sometimes only a couple of lines but they still contain a huge smack fo wisdom. Look at bloggers and writers you love. Can you learn from their styles? Can you copy their writing style. What works for you? What works for your reader.

Trying new styles can also make writing fun. You could make a 30 day writing challenge and blog about it. Write a blog post in a very different style for 30 days straight. Or just do it for your own pleasure.

Tip 9 – Find a writing community

Wrtiting is a solitary activity, but it can help to know and communicate with fellow writers and share challenges, experiences and advice. There are lots of online communities. Many groups use slack to communicate. Often writers will have commnuity challenges which can motivate you to write such as write everyday in June.

If you would like to find fellow bloggers and writers who you can communicate with in person check out sites such as meet up and see if there are any blogger / writer communites in your local area.

Tip 10 – Writing Challenges

This has been touched upon in the last section as many writing communities set themselves writing challenges but there is nothing to stop you setting your own writing / blogging challenges. Here are a few ideas to get you started

Write a how to post on something you know about
Interview somebody
Write a countdown list. Top 20 ……
Write a blog post everyday for 30 days.
Create a blog series where users have to anticipate your next post.
Write reviews for 10 of your favorite possessions.
Write about something controversial
Write a why post. Why you should start your own blog?

When you lack inspiration a quick google search for a blog post challenge can give you the impetus to start.

Tip 11 – Change Of Scence

Sometimes it’s hard to motivate yourself to write in an office or at home, especially if this where you sit everyday, all day. Consider going somewhere different to write. It could be a coffee shop with some wifi, the local library, or just moving to another room in the house.

LIkewise if you need some inspiration, sometimes doing something different such as going out for a walk can give you time and space to think and for inspiration to strike.