First of all, I would like to start with my standard classy question again. WHY. Tell me why, tell me whyyyyy and a few other ones ;-).
Secondly, please get a sheet of paper or notepad right now as this post is encouraging you to create your content character, a unique voice and a plan to start with, while [obviously] answering a few questions. Let’s get cracking!
Did you always want to embrace your inner writer and start a blog or feel like you have to write to be visible and share your stories about your product, service or personal brand online to your future clients and leverage your outreach?
Write it down!
Are you questioning why you should try in the times of information overload and having several topics covered already by others, who might also be way better than you are?
Holy moly…oh well, the self- doubting daughter [or son] a.k.a. your inner evil critic will keep showing up in various stages of your life. It is natural and human, but how are we dealing with this voice?
Exactly - wearing your favourite noise cancelling headphones and listening to your favourite tune to tune it out.
Comparison is the thief of joy, new beginnings will always suck a bit, but either way …nobody did it like you yet and it is a great way for your audience to listen to your voice and personality. People want to connect with each other.
You might have already heard that from various personal development coaches or books. It is a true thing though. There is no one like you and as for anything in life, people will make up their mind about people in their own way and sort them [out]. Either way, let them and so should you, without guilt. It is helpful.
Not everyone can be your reader or potential client. Secondly, trust me - you do not want that at all. No one would have the capacity to serve around 8,231,613,070* people on this planet.
*This might or might not be the number defining our current world population in 2025 - just in case you needed a statistical convincing fact for that reason. Well, at least it is projection of it according to the world barometer. Since Google mentioned 8.025 billion for 2023, I leave it like that. If you have interest in a very very precise number, keep researching.
My personal second import value is quality over quantity for almost everything. I rather write less, but in alignment with my own standards while still not falling into the perfectionista trap and having less readers, but readers, who really read it and ideally receive value from it. If a conversation would start from it… I would have achieved the dream!
Most people – like you and me, are very busy with themselves. So, totally remove this concern about what anyone could think about you or the content you are sharing and if they are not good enough yet or whatever.
Do you, do your best, trust yourself and share your great work with the world.
Yay, this will be an exciting one! Having the mind game sorted now, let’s create the matching character or type of writer you want to become now considering some basic questions:
Do you have a strong academic background, but would like to spice up the world of well researched qualitative content that is [finally] written in a fun and human way? Yay, the world certainly needs you!
Just start imagining yourself a bit more clearly now and define your content character.
Do you rather wish to be …
It is your turn now. Bring your thoughts onto paper and fill in the gaps of the following phrase:
I want to be a _____________ type of blogger and write about _______________.
Yes, write it down. The first thoughts in your head. You can always fine-tune later. Remember, life is an iterative process.
Create an image in your head that really really resonates with you.
If you are reading this article, I assume you care about the process of writing before you are sharing it with the world rather than just writing and publishing. If you do care, I also believe your blog might become a long-term task of your plan and as for anything in life - it will be more likely for you to stick to it if it fits with your nature.
No matter what character you have chosen, you will never hear from me that you should shape your voice and writing style to fit in. I generally believe in authenticity as wearing a mask will earlier or later wear you out. It is draining to steadily act like someone you are not. This does not include still choosing your words wisely in some regards but not trying to become someone else.
Have you ever acknowledged some people, who always speak in this obviously slow tone of voice, where you can literally feel them thinking and choosing every word they communicate with you super-duper wisely?
It is absolutely not about language barriers here right now or trying to pick up knowledge that might have ended up at the very back of your head as you did not use it for a while and therefore will be slowed down.
I personally love to listen to people, who speak in their own way and share what they want to share in their kind, enthusiastic and passionate way. It is simply attractive, and your writing style can be as well.
Sit down now and have a think about your favourite books, journals, blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels, etc. and remind yourself why you liked them so much or rather which traits did you like of the author/creator? Life is as easy as that.
Grab your pen and write your thoughts down on your piece of paper. Writing helps us to get things out of our mind into reality.
I am quite certain you had that voice already, but only needed a wee* reminder that you did, why you like it and why it is absolutely cool to go out with that.
Cool beans!*. So, we have just found your character! Exciting! Let’s start getting some stories for your characters’ voice to talk about.
* wee is a scottish word to describe something tiny or small or slang for going to the loo.
* Cool Beans is a slang word I have learned during my time in Scotland, which means "wonderful" and expresses excitement.
Generally, it is cool to have some kind of show, a format or a series to form. It is basically a system for you to create content for.
Maybe you already had a skim through my or other blog posts. Even though mine here is still new, I have a few series that group content from different topics:
* K.I.S.S. is a Design principle that means “Keep it simple, stupid.”
* Would you like to participate in the Coffee Series? Have a read through the Intro and book a brief call with me to arrange everything.
It will help you and encourage your creative muscle to start coming up with ideas. Group your topics and sub-topics. If you have ideas already, pause now for 5-10 minutes and write them all down. Go!
Create a habit that works for you. Systems help us to achieve almost anything. If you have a habit of snoozing daily, being late and stressed …it is a plan you set [the alarm] you are not following [snoozing].
So, you are basically deceiving yourself. Don’t. Life is short, be nice to yourself. Discipline is the strongest form of self-love [yeah, another mini pep-talk ;-P]
I am aware, time can be rare. However, if writing is part of your plan, set times to sit down and write. If you only have 3 hours a week for this, block them in your calendar and do it.
If you struggle all alone at home, join a local writing community. A lot of cities have a MeetUp called Shut up and Write. Find accountability buddies and sit with them together weekly to write using the pomodoro method.
They meet, share their goals or project they are working on, will set a timer for around 45 minutes, have another brief catch up and do it again. These people are not chatty cathys in those 2 hours they meet. However, they are aware of the importance of having their goal split up in crumbles embedded in their weekly routine to make it happen. Some of them want to write a book. It takes time and effort to get there.
Final takeaways to make sure your character will really write:
You know the drill. Take 10 – 15 minutes now to write down the format and series for you content character and actively block times in your calendar to remember.
Now it is time to choose one specific topic and start structuring and writing considering a few basic points:
This is a very brief quick and dirty overview, but basically sums up everything you need to do.
Just make sure you consider the correct titles and headings according to the keywords you would like to target for your search engine optimisation. This is crucial as you still want to be found eventually. Readers usually scan text-heavy content in F patterns. Therefore, it is recommended to involve headings, sub-headings and bold letters, so that your audience can easily scan key messages.
Titles and Headings should be in alignment with your keywords. Even though certain prime keywords might be hard to compete with from a ranking perspective, still ensure you have the correct keywords your audience will search for.
Remember to connect your website to the Google Search Console, use a keyword planner, google analytics, google trends or tools like answer the public to help you during this process. [Unpaid advertisement]
Again, if you are just starting out, do not overthink this process. Do your very best and then go out and publish.
You can also re-write articles later or even delete if you do not feel comfortable with the content anymore. Remember, you will improve overtime and find out what works for you and what does not.
If you have a great community or audience already, involve them in the process. This is such a great way of building relationships and writing content that really matters for your area. So, use your voice to attract the right people. Again, if you write in a certain way that is not your nature, do not be surprised about the requests that might drop in later.
In an ideal world, you will summarise some key takeaways for your community. This is basically your written goodie you have provided you audience with for free.
Go on and write! The only time we have is now. If you have some minutes left now, do it. It is amazing what can happen in 15 minutes.
Set yourself a timer and dedicate yourself to the creative process and remove any judgements.
You might not receive a noble prize for this, but everything you keep doing will improve with time and there is no one like you! Use your unique personality and traits to share your story about your products and services. Give it a try and write.
Was this helpful? Feel free to let me know and share how it is going. I really mean it. Sharing is caring. This is why we create, don’t we?
Either way, I hope this helped you. So have a lovely rest of the day and happy writing!
Victoria