Feb 23, 2016

How I Write a Blog Post in 5 Steps



     Hello Readers!  I stole borrowed Katie Grace's idea to write a blog post about how to write a blog post!  Feel free to write one yourself, or comment below on how you like to do it on your blog in your own style!  And check out Katie's blog A Writer's Faith!




1. Usually a couple of minutes.     The very first thing I do when writing a blog post is (of course) thinking of a blog post idea.  You probably knew that already.  =)  Usually I get ideas from something that happened in my own life.  For instance, I write a book or movie review after reading/watching one.  Sometimes I see something that makes me think, "That would make a good blog post."   Other times, I get ideas from other blogs, for instance, this blog post from Katie Grace!  If that is the case, I usually mention that in my introduction, so I am not stealing their ideas without giving them credit. =)

2.   Less than 20 minutes.      A lot of bloggers spend massive amounts of time writing an outline for each post.  Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I don't.  After I think of a blog post idea, I simply sit down and write it.  No outlining involved.  I might occasionally use outlining for a post that doesn't feel right after my first draft.  Yet, I think it saves me time to avoid outlines and write my thoughts immediately on paper.  (or in my case, the computer)  =)

3.  10-15 minutes.  After I have a rough draft, I spell-check, grammar check, and overall clear my posts of most all the mistakes.  Sometimes I have my amazing English teacher (who is also my mom) read my posts.  She tells me what I missed and gives me her overall thoughts.  That way, I can make sure that the post makes sense to someone other than myself. =)

4.  Around 5 minutes.   Finally, I can go through and change my font, font color, alignment, etc!  After I think everything is perfect, I click "preview" and make sure it looks good on my blog as well.  Sometimes, there are just things you miss on the Blogger Post Area.  (if that is what it's called)

5.  30 Minutes.   Now my blog post is done!  All I need is at least one photo for the post.  I find my copyright free photos on websites such as Pexels, Unsplash, or All Free Download.   (note: I have had no problems with these websites.  Yet they are open image/media sites.  Some may have offensive images.  Use at your own risk.)    To make a blog photo, I first download the photo to my computer.  I use a scrap-booking program that we bought to crop/edit the photo.  The scrap-booking program includes fun backgrounds, texts, colors, stickers, and anything else that I might need to use.  

Before:


Afterwards: 





    Overall, my time for writing this blog post was a little more than an hour.  Of course, it varies from post to post.  Writing a blog post doesn't have to be a complected ordeal!  For me, a post takes an average of 30 minutes.  (this one was probably my longest yet)  Writing blog posts is something that you need to do in your own way!  Have fun writing!

How do you write posts on your blog?  Do you have other steps that I didn't include?  Comment below!  If you write a post on your own blog, you can post the link below as well!

12 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this! I'm still trying to figure it out myself. :) I usually write out my post and then it's easier to cross things out, etc. But we do thing's very similar other than that! ( =

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cool, Hannah! =) How long does it take you to write each post, approximately? =)

      Delete
    2. Hmmmm...I'm not sure. It really depends on the post, but for a normal one maybe 30 minutes (that wouldn't include editing, etc). I might have to *steal* your idea and do a post on this. (;

      Delete
    3. Well, it wasn't my idea. ;) But go ahead!!

      Delete
  2. Yes, thanks! Both yours and Katie's posts were really helpful. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am glad that it was helpful to you, Emily!! I would love to know how you do it too! =)

      Delete
  3. Ooh, this was so interesting! It sounds like some of our points are pretty similar, aside from the outlining part. :P

    AND ISN'T UNSPLASH AWESOME?! *happy sigh* I hope it always continues to post awesome pictures, because I will always keep using them. xD I haven't heard of the other free photo site. I'll have to check it out.

    Thanks for linking back to me! :D I enjoyed your post. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for commenting Katie! **tries to hide the excitement that Katie Grace commented on my blog!** =)

      I got those links from Go Teen Writers...there were several others, but those are my favorites! I still wish we could just use google for images, but... ;)

      Yes, Unsplash has awesome photos!!! =) Do you use that as your main photo site?

      Delete
  4. How you write a blog depends on what you're writing about and who you're writing to as well. I blog on computer stuff (not as encouraging or uplifting as y'all's blogs are probably, but it's for school), and my audience is college-age computer and security people. So I skip some of your steps--like picking a picture and making sure my font is perfect. (Geeks like information, even if it's not in a beautiful blog post... I hope! :) ). However, it takes me a LONG time to decide what to write on; I usually need to do research for articles, other blogs, etc. that talk about computer stuff until I get inspired on a topic. A lot of times, I take over half an hour to do this (or longer if I get sidetracked by cool articles I don't want to blog on!). When I do get a topic, I take 30-40 minutes to write it. I don't often bother outlining it--I write until I've said it all and I've written enough. If you want a good blog post, outlining is a good idea, but for me outlining takes up more effort than it's worth. Editing takes 10 minutes probably. So I skip steps 4 and 5, but I spend a lot more time on step 1, which makes our time to create a blog about the same.
    Keep blogging! You're doing great! It's neat to see how you're using this to glorify Jesus! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Aslan! =) And I agree...writing a blog post really does depend on WHAT you are writing! You also have a lot more research on your topics than I do. (mine primarily rests on looking up Bible verses or finding information on something else) But...I think I have more fun blogging. ;) hehe

      Even though your subjects are usually geeky topics about computers/security/etc. you can still make it a "beautiful" post! ;) Maybe not for a college class though...

      Thank you Aslan! I enjoy blogging and using it to reach others! =)

      Delete
  5. I always love more advice on writing blog posts! My process is pretty simple. I do a rough (like the title or topic and the main points) outline, then type out the post, edit it, and then make sure the formatting is perfect. Lastly, I make a picture cover for my post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sounds like we have very similar techniques! =) Where do you get most of your photos? I love your blog! =)

      Delete