A couple of months ago, a lovely friend asked if I could give her some writing feedback. Once I retrieved my mind from its initial imposter-syndrome flight of panic, I replied that I was really happy to do so (and then resumed panicking). Once she sent her work over and I had a look (I really hope she publishes: it was so good!), I surprised myself by realising that imposter or not, I actually did have a couple of structural ideas that might help her. And as I jotted down some notes I realised that over my many years of blogging I have developed a kind of approach to writing blog posts that can be described by analogy. It’s not precise, but I think it holds up as a general approach…
For me, blogging (especially for my In The Secret Place blog) is a bit like inviting my readers to take a journey with me. It’s usually a journey that I have been on myself, from which I have now returned in order to share the highlights with them – minus all the stumbling about, dead-ends and boring bits (the benefits of editing).
So when I write, I have a destination in mind: the main point that I’d like to show them. And while I write, I keep checking my metaphorical compass to make sure I am still heading towards our destination point. I haven’t always been great at this, but I’d like to think I have improved.
The introduction (and often the title) establishes our starting point and reveals (or at least hints at) where we’re going – it whets the appetite and gets the reader on board. I don’t want us to take too long wandering about without a clear direction, otherwise they might lose interest, so I try to introduce the main point/ destination within a paragraph or two.
Once we’re into the main body of the text, I see that as the active walking part of the journey where we cover most ground. It doesn’t have to be dry and linear like walking along a tarmac road – my favourite walks are often meandering cross-country ones with beautiful scenery to look at along the way. So I try to visit the stops that generally lead towards our main destination:
a/ in a logical order that progresses.
b/ enjoying the scenery (illustrations) along the way but not getting so engrossed in detail that we tire and/or fail to reach our destination. Pace is key – we must keep moving.
c/ keeping my compass (main point) to hand so we don’t go too far off on a rabbit trail. Meandering/ digression is fine, as long as we are still generally heading in the right direction and not jolting the reader by realising the destination is now out of sight/ a different way entirely.
And when we arrive at your destination we stop and drink in the view, appreciating where we came from and establishing that we have arrived, for that sense of completion. This is the summing up/ conclusion.
I personally think this analogy works for those writing longer books too – you can just afford longer side-trails etc. Blog posts are like short outings/ day-trips, whereas books are maybe more like walking holidays that give space to explore more widely around the destination, or just to take a slower, more detailed approach to the same destination.
Fellow bloggers, what do you think? Do you have a different approach, or does the journey analogy work for you too?
Rachel Yarworth, Writer 