“If only I had all the time in the world, my blog would be perfect.” That thought has probably crossed your mind more than once. Before we put our fingers to the keyboard … Being a great writer is about more than just putting words on the page. To produce good writing, you have to start with good ideas. (Unless that editing helps you discover a better idea, which is another story.) So, where do we get these great ideas? Thoreau saw living as essential to writing. Being a writer isn’t just about writing. It’s an ability to pay attention to your life, and use your experiences and observations to inspire your ideas. When you do achieve writerly greatness, it won’t be in spite of your busy schedule or because you finally managed to find time to delve into Google Analytics. It will be because you’ve learned to pay attention to the world around you, and to transform your observations and insights into content that means something.
“If only I had all the time in the world, my blog would be perfect.”
That thought has probably crossed your mind more than once. I know it’s crossed mine. I find myself lost in daydreams about how amazing my motorcycle blog could be — if only I had more time.
When writerly productivity is measured in words written, posts published, traffic attracted, and opt-ins secured, there is always room for improvement. It gets overwhelming, keeping up with the treadmill of constant growth … not to mention the rest of our lives.
No wonder we feel so busy all the time.
But what if our busy schedules aren’t obstacles to overcome but opportunities to embrace?
Before we put our fingers to the keyboard …
Being a great writer is about more than just putting words on the page.
The work we do sitting at our desks — pouring out the first draft, revising, optimizing for SEO — is only part of the writing process.
Certainly those are important and useful steps that take time and emergy, but arguably the more important work happens before we put our fingers to the keyboard.
To produce good writing, you have to start with good ideas. A spark, an inspiration.
The rest of the writing work you do builds upon that initial insight. No matter how good you are at editing, you won’t be able to turn a bad idea into a dazzling article. (Unless that editing helps you discover a better idea, which is another story.)
So, where do we get these great ideas?
With so many ways to measure content performance, it’s tempting to look to our platforms for help….
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