A rough guide I am going to try and follow for blog posts

As you may have read recently I am trying to do more online writing by committing to making 365 posts in 2015.

One of the things I quickly realised is that I should really get a plan in place that helps me move from my notes and thoughts on a subject to an actual useful post.

Things I am going to do before writing posts

I have written before about how I sometimes generate ideas using a mind map, that isn't what I am going to talk about here, this is the stage after I have had the idea but before I have committed anything to paper.

• Make sure I have enough to say on the matter – If it is more like a single thought I will likely just post it on social media.
• Research other posts on the subject – It might be that the subject is well covered, if I have nothing to get off my chest I would then likely again post a link somewhere.

Things I am going to do after writing the first draft

I am in two minds if some of the stuff I mention here shouldn't be done earlier in the process. I might adjust these over time.

• Search for good quotes – Because everyone likes a good quote!
• Search for interesting images – I don't want to add images for the sake of it, but if I can find something relevant I will add it.
• Ask an expert their opinion – If I can get a one liner from someone that would be amazing.
• Ask for quotes from users/non-experts – This will depend heavily on the subject matter, but I think it could be really useful to have different views scattered throughout the post.

Things I am going to do once the post is complete

This part of my workflow really needs a lot of work, I do very little work post publishing a post.

• Cross link it with anything relevant I have written before – I am really bad at doing this and I think as a result readers might miss out on something they may find interesting.
• Promote the article on my social media feeds – More importantly is to do this more than once.
• Respond to feedback