This is a no brainer. Well, the rule is a no brainer—carrying it out requires the firing of many neurons. What’s the first rule of blogging?
Write.
See? It’s not some mysterious bit of insider information. It’s basic. It’s practical. It’s accessible.
You have a blog for a reason. You want to share your ideas, your knowledge, and your passion with someone you don’t see face to face regularly to discuss these gems of insight. So, you blog. At least that was the idea when you started.
Don’t be fooled; writing is work. You need to treat it like work. It can’t be something you do only when you feel like it. If you’re anything like me, the blogging muses don’t continually dump their gifts on my head whenever I sit down at the computer.
The days I struggle to say something remotely worthwhile are often the days that produce my best work.
So how do you get started?
1. Set some parameters for yourself. It could be that you don’t leave your seat till you’ve produced 350 words you can live with. It could be sitting there till you’ve completely finished a post. It’s your life; you set the boundaries.
2. Remember the focus of your blog. If your blog is about whatever crosses your mind, you’re in luck. If like many blogs you have a specific subject, make sure you cover that regularly.
3. Make sure you have the things that make writing easier. My things include relative solitude, some sort of hydration, and my computer.
4. Just write. Editing comes later. Just write. Publishing every word flowing from your fingers probably won’t happen, but it will get you going. If you’re “just” writing, stop after 10 minutes and see what nuggets of treasure are buried in the avalanche of words. Choose them. Expand on them. It will be worth the extra 15 minutes the process took.
You’ve known the #1 rule all along. You’ve got something to say. Now go say it.
