I Can Teach You How To Write More Interesting Posts

I publish more content than most people. Part of that is because blogging is how I prepare for work. It is like priming the pump or stretching before a game.

This story that I am working on is a hell of a lot of fun but part of that is because it is different. I find it stimulating in a different way than some of the other things I do.

If you want to be a good writer you need to practice writing and you need to stimulate your mind. Ask questions. Write down the answers. Think about how things work and find a way to look at the world with wonder.


Writing Tools

A while back one of my 14k sisters asked me if I could help her put together a desk, a bookcase and some chairs that she had purchased. I have done that sort of thing a million times so I said yes and told her that my services were available for the very affordable cost of a coke and two slices of pizza.

When I opened up the box for the desk we found approximately 1,983,743 parts and an instruction manual that consisted of 18 pictures.  Now I could tell you a story that would make you laugh but I want to go a different way.

When I looked at the various parts I began to wonder where the manufacturer of that unit acquired all of the parts. I looked at the pieces and wondered how many different people were involved in getting it all together. Think about this for a moment.

  1. Someone had find the packaging for the unit.
  2. Someone had to design the artwork that went on the outside of the box.
  3. Someone had to find and purchase the wood that was used.
  4. Someone had to find and purchase the other parts.
  5. A machinist(s) were used to shape and form many of the pieces.
  6. A technical writer was involved in building the manual.
  7. Someone had to see that the manual was translated into multiple languages.

What Is The Point?

The point is that in less than 2 minutes I came up with seven questions about a desk. Every one of those questions offers an opportunity to tell a story. If I wanted to I could have come up with another 7 or another 50 questions. But the seven I asked are enough to provide a framework for a story that people would be interested in.

It is the tale of that desk is the culmination of the work of hundreds and perhaps thousands of people. Who are these people? Where do they live and what do they do? Surely there are some very interesting tales to be told about that.

The point is that when we open our eyes and look around there are a million different stories just waiting to be told. All we have to do is open our eyes and remember being children.

Start Asking Why

Children are famous for asking WHY and adults should be too. It is even more important for writers to ask WHY. Your readers have questions. Ask WHY and you can answer those questions. Answer those questions and you add value. Answer those questions and you will entertain them.

Do yourself a favor and search for answers to your questions and then share it on your blog. You’ll learn something in the process and because you are already interested in the topic your post will have more energy and excitement.

Time

It took me exactly seven minutes to write this post. There is no doubt that it could be better. I could rewrite it and make it stronger but that would defeat the purpose. I wrote it because I have a paid assignment that I need to move to.

This post was a warm up for me. It was me stretching before the big game. It was a simple way to get the juices flowing and the thoughts thinking.

Writing is something that you can improve with practice. Write often and good things happen. Ask questions and share the answers. But most of all have fun with it. Blogging shouldn’t be a task and if it is you need to reconsider why you are still doing it.

See you all in a bit, work calls……….

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23 Comments

  1. tabulyogang March 9, 2012 at 10:08 pm

    wow. The “ask WHY” certainly got me. Yeah why haven’t i thought of that? If those why questions interests me then there’s a probability that my readers would also be interested. And the “adding value” as my goal to my readers would certainly be fulfilled. Thank you so much for the post.

  2. Rizwan Sultan February 4, 2012 at 10:49 am

    I found this incredibly helpful. Thank you so much… I’m off to do some more research and learning and hopefully elevate the experience my readers have on my blog.

  3. Jens P. Berget February 3, 2012 at 2:31 pm

    I believe it’s a completely free trial.

  4. Jens P. Berget February 3, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    I have been writing my novel using Scrivener, and I am very satisfied with it.

    Thanks a lot for the kind words. It’s a lot harder to write in English, but I really enjoy it, and I keep doing it in order to learn and become a better writer.

  5. Hajra February 3, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    Hey Jack,

    They should have your name in the Guinness.. I mean no body writes as much as you do; and definitely not such awesome content! You should have a coaching on “how to beat blogging exhaustion”!

    I am terrible at actually getting around to writing. I have this huge list of ideas lying here and there but I just don’t sit and compile them; I don’t know why! I should be asking much more why’s ! 🙂

    • Jack February 3, 2012 at 2:30 pm

      Nah, a lot of my writing is just so-so and not nearly what it should be. Part of the reason I write so much is to try and make it better.

      As for you, just sit and write. Don’t think about doing, just do. It makes a difference. I am really good at procrastinating so I understand how you can get caught up doing other things.

      But just write and some of that goes away.

  6. Jens P. Berget February 3, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    7 minutes? Wow, I was so proud writing a short one in 20 minutes 🙂

    I can relate to what you say, and I practice every single day. I usually write in Norwegian, except my blog posts, but it’s the same thing. I keep hustling to become a better writer.

    On the other hand, I was never good at preparing for a game of basketball, not even when it came to stretching. But, I would probably have become a better player if I did.

    By the way, what software are you using to write?

    • Jack February 3, 2012 at 2:11 pm

      Hi Jens,

      I compose my posts from within WordPress. If I hadn’t been so familiar with this particular topic I am not sure that I could write it as quickly as I did.

      I am guessing that it probably takes me closer to 15 or 20 minutes to write most of my posts.

      This one was a “gimme” and I knew that mentioning “7 minutes” would stick with people which was my intent.

      I didn’t start stretching or warming up for my basketball games until I was around 28 or maybe even my early thirties.

      But I saw a couple of guys get hurt from not warming up and decided it was better to be safe than sorry.

      I have to imagine that you write faster in Norwegian than English. It is very impressive to me that you write as well as you do in a second language. It is not that easy for some people to do it in one.

  7. LaRae Quy February 3, 2012 at 12:27 pm

    Great tips, Jack! I only wish I could write an article this good in 7 minutes . . .

  8. Ann Jane February 3, 2012 at 6:54 am

    Good hints for a newbie like me..Thanks! I ask a lot of questions, now I just learned I need to write the answers down!

    Ann Jane

  9. Mark February 3, 2012 at 6:19 am

    I need lot’s of practice Jack!

    I don’t even come close to jotting down a thought in 7 minutes, let alone a blog post that is in my mind worthy to share… And my mind isn’t that big!

    Some folks have it easy – – they just have all the talent – shucks!

    • Jack February 3, 2012 at 12:35 pm

      Hi Mark,

      I am certain that there are topics that you’re so familiar with the words come spilling out.

      This post isn’t amazing, at best it is solid. I have had so many conversations with people about this topic it makes it easy to share my thoughts.

      You can do it too.

  10. Harleena Singh February 3, 2012 at 6:11 am

    Loved the post Jack!

    I love the ease with which you write, and yes the words just seem to flow.

    I guess I too love to write from my heart and its a wonderful way to convey your feelings or what you think to others.

    And I liked the way you ended the post saying that you wrote all of this in just seven minutes! Gosh- that must be requiring some bit of practice, but then like you again rightly mentioned- practice makes perfect.

    It is indeed true that if you are a writer, you should be writing a little every single day. It may be for your blog, some post, writing assignments, or just scribbling your thoughts on paper. And this does make you better every single day.

    I too strongly believe that we just need to keep our mind and eyes open, as we do have a story at every corner of our lives 🙂

    Thanks so much for the reminder and great tips 🙂

    Have a great weekend 🙂

    • Jack February 3, 2012 at 12:32 pm

      Hi Harleena,

      I am fortunate to have some natural skill with words but the hours of practice are the key to the speed at which I can produce content.

      When the words are flowing freely I don’t have to think about what I am doing because they just move from pen to paper.

      I can’t say that every post is good or even great. What I know is that practice has proven to me to be invaluable.

      You are good at looking at things differently and asking questions. I can see that every time I read your posts.

  11. Bill Dorman February 3, 2012 at 6:01 am

    Children? My wife asks ‘why’ for everything I do and of course we all know sometimes the answer is ‘just because’….simple as that.

    I don’t need to look for stories, I just go back to your old sites and copy and paste. It seems to be working pretty well; I’m kind of liking that business model myself. It fits well with my ‘just show up’ methodology.

    Good post and yes, there are many ways you can develop a story from just the routine daily life.

    I’m off to Disney and their golf courses today……..free golf too so that puts me in the bonus round.

    • Jack February 3, 2012 at 10:14 am

      Hi Bill,

      Try doing the copy and paste stuff with the audio blogs. If I heard my voice coming from everywhere and everything I might actually believe I had Godlike powers.

      And then work would come along and tell me that I am still on deadline and that fantasy would be ruined.

      Free golf sounds nice but I refuse to play that game. My friends who have been sucked into it spend countless hours on the links and I don’t know how they find the time.

      But it does sound like it could be fun.

  12. Mhelgie February 3, 2012 at 12:42 am

    Thanks for sharing this wonderful and informative post. Good thing you’ve mentioned that the best thing to get something to write is to ask question. For sure the next time I write I will not be lack of things to share I just ask and find questions just like what you said.

  13. Gina February 2, 2012 at 7:33 pm

    Words flow off your fingers like fire. Lucky you. Occasionally that’s the case for me.

    My whole life, I’ve been accused of asking way too many questions. Absolutely can’t help it. Thanks for validating my annoying habit.

    • Jack February 2, 2012 at 8:00 pm

      I never run out of things to say or write about but that doesn’t mean that I don’t hit periods of time where my words fail to flow with any sort of rhythm.

      There is nothing wrong with asking questions. People don’t ask enough of them.

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