Thread by @CollinsMandy

Okay. Time for a small #writing thread, for people writing #businessblogs.

I work with a lot of corporate blog writers, editing, coaching, and generally upping their game, and I have THINGS TO SAY.

To start with, research is good. You don't want to underdo it, or your blog will be insubstantial. But you can also overdo it. And then you've done so much, that you feel you need to put everything in the blog, and then it's just overwhelming to sift through.

Your research is like a Victorian petticoat - scandalous if it's showing.

You will need to throw quite a bit of it - the trick is to think about what you reader needs to know, not to show off how much research you did.

The research is partly there to give the blog authority.

But it's mostly there so that you can write about the topic and come across as sounding what you're talking about.

So research, and then be ruthless with what you keep and what you cast aside.

Make statements and use your research to back them up - briefly - and move on.

Next, don't just dump all of your research in a folder, add some paragraphs and think you have a blog.

You need to tell a story. You need to take the reader on a journey. Take all the facts and tie them together. Explain their significance. Tell us why we should care.

Your #businessblog needs to answer this question: "So what?"

If you can't answer that question, it's back to the drawing board for you.

Once you've dumped all of that information in a folder, you need to start with something to hook the reader.

Pick out an interesting fact, or a common misconception. Find something quirky, something tantalising, and lead with that.

And then write the damn blog. Writing is craft. It's time spent leading the reader down the garden path, pointing out bees and butterflies.

It's making sure that you've ordered things logically, and tied things together where they relate, or showing how they contrast. And then tying itup in a neat bundle that answers the proposition in your headline and introduction.

I can knock out a blog in 20 minutes -

but that's because I've been writing for a living for more than 20 years.

But even I know that's a first draft. And that it needs to be refined.

So in summary...

1. Research
2. Dump in file
3. Find hook
4. Order information
5. Write blog
6. Rewrite and refine
7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 as many times as necessary.
8. Edit
9. Proofread
10. Ask someone else to proofread too.
11. Publish.
12. Wish you'd written this or that differently ...

Writing is a craft, not an art. You have to polish things.

And it's about the reader. Never forget that. Even if it's just a tiny 300-word blog.

It's a craft.