Here’s How to Write a Blog Post Like a Professional

You sit down. You stare at your screen. The cursor blinks. So do you. Anxiety sets in. Where do you begin when you want to create an article that will earn you clicks, comments, and social shares? This simple formula will show you how to write a blog post by guiding you from blank page to finished work.

1Choose your blog post topic

I know quite a few writers whose abandoned personal blogs are languishing in some dark corner of the Internet. These writers launched their blogs with joy and enthusiasm, but their momentum fizzled because they found it too hard to keep coming up with inspiring topics. Don’t let this happen to you. Here are some great ways to choose a topic that will resonate with your audience.

• Pick something you’re passionate about. When you care about your topic, you’ll write about it in a more powerful, emotionally expressive way.
• Pick something your readers are passionate about. What does your audience care about? It’s important to know so you can engage them. And don’t be afraid to go negative (e.g. Ten “Healthy” Foods You Should Always Avoid). The human negativity bias is legit.
• Get inspired by research. Some of the best articles I’ve written germinated when I grew curious about a subject and decided to explore it.
• Get inspired by other writers. No, I don’t mean you should plagiarize or blatantly copy ideas. But you can take a look at what your competition is writing about and put your own spin on these subjects. What new information or ideas can you bring to the table?

Keep a log of every topic idea that comes your way. You never know when you’re going to be stumped by the question “What should I write?”

Here’s a tip: Use a bookmarking tool like Pocket or EverNote to store clips and notes. Use your clip file for inspiration whenever your idea well runs dry.

2 Pick one clear angle.

You’ve got a topic. Awesome! Now, what’s your angle? Avoid a broad approach—get specific. You’ll get overwhelmed if you pick a huge subject like organic vegetable gardening and try to cover it all. Instead, go with “10 Budget-Friendly Ways to Start an Organic Vegetable Garden.”

Think about the best approach to your topic. If you want to explain how to do something, a step-by-step how-to article could work well. Want to write about your favorite autobiographies or offer your best tips for throwing a memorable dinner party? Consider a listicle. There’s nothing wrong with a straight-up essay, either, as long as it’s well-organized.

Speaking of which . . .

3 Get organized.

Whenever my dad had a disagreement with someone, he’d make his case and then storm off, but inevitably come back minutes later, one finger raised in proclamation, saying, “And another thing!” He did this so often that it became a running family joke.

Don’t write like my dad debated. Many bloggers make the mistake of not organizing their thoughts before they begin, which leads to “and another thing” writing. You’ll continue adding thoughts in a random, incoherent fashion. Articles like that don’t get read and shared, they get ignored.

If you’ve ever grown impatient while listening to someone tell a story, wanting them to just get to the point, then you know what it’s like to read an article that lacks organization. My dear content creators, no one wants to try to fish a few salient points out of your stream of consciousness.

— 9 Workflow Strategies That Will Make You a Faster Writer

Organize your thoughts with an outline. Here’s the outlining strategy I use. I promise it works like a charm. Not only will it make writing your blog post easier, it’ll help you make your message focused and clear for your readers.

4Open strong

If you tied a worm to the end of a fishing line, how many bluegills do you think you’d catch?

Easy answer: none. Dangling a worm alone may get you a nibble or two, but if you actually want to reel ’em in, you need a hook. Think of your opening paragraph as an advertisement for the rest of your blog post, the thing that keeps your reader on the line. Consider these examples from 5 Things That Will Make You Better at Content Writing.

Weak Hook

Writing a great opening paragraph is very important. Here are a few tips to get you on the way to hooking your readers.

Yawn. Don’t tell your reader that something’s important, show her. Why should she want “a few tips” from you?

Strong Hook

I just stopped reading your article. You had about two seconds to hook me, but your yawn-inducing opener made me surf on to something else. Writers (not to mention their websites) thrive on being read, so why do we invest so little time in crafting strong opening hooks?

Consider using a little foreshadowing in your hook. Scroll back and take a look at the opening paragraph of this article. See how it hints at what’s to come? That’s foreshadowing. Suggest what you’re going to deliver within the article so we’ll be compelled to read on.

5Write naturally

The one thing you have that other writers don’t is your voice. Cultivate it! If it works for your article, consider writing in the first person and including some relatable anecdotes. (Like my “And another thing!” tale.) Whenever you can, tell a story, whether it’s your own or someone else’s.

If you don’t have a story to relate to your readers, you can at least infuse your article with your personal style. Instead of writing like you’re churning out a dry research paper, write as though you’re telling a friend about some cool new stuff you’ve learned. Use your own natural, conversational tone. Keep your language simple and direct. In other words, just be you. No one else can.

—5 Things That Will Make You Better at Content Writing

6Write emotionally

Remember what I briefly mentioned about the human negativity bias? Our brains are wired to look for danger, and so we’re naturally drawn to warnings and other information that’s skewed toward the negative. (In fact, the media uses the negativity bias to capture our attention because it works so well.) Using negativity is a kind of emotional writing.

But that doesn’t mean you have to be a constant downer in order to keep your readers hooked. You can create interest just by using emotional language to write on topics your readers care about. PRO TIP: How do you know people will care about your topic? Because you care about it!

7 Close strong

You’ve come this far. Now, it’s time to write a killer close that will help cement your post in your reader’s mind, create engagement, and encourage social sharing. Let’s look at a few.

• Simply end at a natural stopping point. No wrap-ups, no frills—just end when you’re finished. Give it a try if it suits your post and writing style.
• Wrap it up with a summary paragraph. This is by far the most traditional approach. Summarize your conclusions and add some closing thoughts.
• Create a TL;DR. For better or worse, we skim when we read online. A TL;DR is usually a simple bulleted list that lets a reader see your conclusions at a glance. You never know—the TL;DR could inspire someone to go back and read the full article.
• Fish for comments. When you wrap up with a compelling question, you encourage your readers to have a say. This can help you build community around your blog.
• Ask for a social share. It never hurts to ask people to share your article if it resonated with them.
• Ask the reader to subscribe. The reader made it to the end of your article—they like you! Ask them to connect with you on social media or subscribe to your blog channel so they can see whenever you post new content.
• Promote a product. See below. *wink*

Now that you’ve drafted a memorable post, edit. Clean up the clutter and eliminate wordiness. And don’t forget to use Grammarly as your extra pair of eyes to help you catch typos and look for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

Participle

What’s a Participle?

A participle is a form of a verb that can be used as an adjective or combined with the verb to be to construct different verb tenses.

Present Participles

In English, all present participles end in -ing. In most cases, if the base form of a verb ends in a consonant, you simply add -ing. Walk becomes walking, eat becomes eating, think becomes thinking, and so on. If the verb ends with a silent -e, the -e is usually dropped before -ing is added. Move becomes moving, consume becomes consuming, meditate becomes meditating. For verbs that end in -ie, the -ie usually changes to -y before the -ing is added.

Present participles are also sometimes called gerund participles.

Past Participles

Most past participles are formed by adding -ed to the base form of a verb (or just -d if the verb already ends in -e. Walk becomes walked, move becomes moved, and so on. However, there are a handful of verbs with irregular past participles. Some common ones include think/thought, eat/eaten, go/gone, do/done, and feel/felt.

Combining Participles with to Be

Present participles combine with the verb to be to form certain verb tenses. The past continuous, present continuous, and future continuous tenses combine the verb to be with present participles:

I was walking. (past continuous) I am walking. (present continuous) I will be walking. (future continuous)

Past participles combine with the verb to be to create the passive voice. In a passive voice construction, the grammatical subject of the clause receives the action of the verb. Someone or something else performs the action.

The pie was eaten by Rodney. The test was passed by the whole class. The movie was watched by people around the country.

Is it Used To or Use To? How to Use Both

Don’t feel bad if you mix up use to and used to now and again—it is not an uncommon mistake. Used to is a phrase that can mean “accustomed or habituated to” or refers to something from the past that is no longer true. Use to and used to are also frequently used in English grammar as modal verb phrases.

”Use” Followed by an Infinitive

Before we get into idiomatic meanings for the phrase used to, it is worth pointing out that both use and used can correctly appear before to when to is part of the infinitive of a second verb. That sounds far more complicated than it is, so let’s go straight to some examples.

What do you use to decorate cakes and cookies?

Buttercream icing was used to frost all of today’s cakes and cookies.

In these kinds of sentences, whether you decide to write use to or used to will depend on whether the present or past tense is needed.

“Use To” vs. “Used To” as a Synonym for “Accustomed To”

When your intention is to say the equivalent of accustomed to or habituated to, always write used to and never use to.

Horseback riding was frightening to me at first, but now I am use to it.

Horseback riding was frightening to me at first, but now I am used to it.

Why do people get confused so often with this phrase and incorrectly write use to? It is probably because of our ear’s influence over how we write. When you say used to aloud, the d in used and the t in to blend to almost become one consonant sound. Often, we spell words incorrectly because in our mind’s ear, that is how they sound. A similar mistake frequently happens with the phrase supposed to.

“Get Used to It”—How To Use It Correctly

The construction of the example above involves the verb to be + used to in order to show that the speaker is in a state of being accustomed to something. A closely related construction is get + used to, which is an idiomatic phrase meaning “become accustomed to.” When you use get + used to, it means that the process of habituation is still ongoing. It is also incorrect to write use to in this case.

Horseback riding has been frightening for me, but I will get use to it.

Horseback riding has been frightening for me, but I will get used to it.

Here’s a tip: Avoid writing I am use to it or Get use to it. Always include the d: I am used to it and Get used to it.

“Used To” Shows a Former Fact, Habit, or Action

We also use the phrase used to in the sense of formerly to indicate something that happened in the past but no longer does. While in centuries past there was a corresponding present tense form, use to, we now use this construction only in the past tense.

The grocery store used to be at the corner of Main and Fifth.

Karl used to work out every morning, but he has been too busy to keep up with it.

My father used to take a donkey to school.

The only time you should write use to instead of used to with this meaning of the phrase is when it is paired with did or didn’t. The reason is that did or didn’t will have assumed the obligation of reflecting the past tense.

Did your father use to take his donkey to school?

My father didn’t use to take his donkey to school on Mondays, because it was needed at the farm.

If the negative construction in the above example feels too formal for the setting you are writing in, rewrite the sentence without it.

My father didn’t take his donkey to school on Mondays, because it was needed at the farm.

Now that you have learned about use to and used to, you may want to check out these other commonly confused words.

Sometime, Sometimes, and Some Time

• Sometime means “at some point.”
• As an adjective, sometime also means “former.”
• Some time means “a period of time”—usually a long period of time.
• Sometimes means “occasionally.”

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What is the difference between sometime and some time? And where does sometimes fit into the equation? Don’t worry, the answer is simpler than you might think.

Sometime: One Word

There are two ways to use sometime as one word. Let’s tackle the harder one first.

Sometime: Adverb

When you use sometime as an adverb, it refers to an unspecified point in time. It doesn’t refer to a span of time—that’s what some time is for.

Here’s an example of sometime used in a sentence.

I’ll get around to finishing that book sometime.

In the sentence above, we’re not talking about how long it will take to finish the book (span of time); we’re talking about when the book will be finished (point in time). You can usually replace sometime with someday or at some point when it’s used this way.

I’ll get around to finishing that book someday.

I’ll get around to finishing that book at some point.

Sometime, Some Time, Sometimes Video Summary

Here are a few more examples:

Give me a call sometime, and we’ll have coffee.

We’ll announce a release date sometime soon.

Tony needs to stop by the bank sometime today.

Sometime: Adjective

OK, now let’s talk about the other way to use sometime. When you use sometime as an adjective, it just means “former.” Sometime should always be one word when you’re using it as an adjective.

Albert, a sometime cab driver, now flies airplanes for a living.

In the sentence above, sometime cab driver means “former cab driver.” Some writers use sometime to mean “occasional,” but that usage isn’t accepted by everybody. If you’re not sure whether your audience will interpret sometime as “former” or “occasional,” it may be a good idea to avoid the ambiguity and use more specific terms.

And, remember, when you use sometime as an adjective, don’t put an s at the end of it.

Albert, a sometimes cab driver, now flies airplanes for a living.

Some Time: Two Words

When some time is two words, it refers to a span of time. In fact, it often means “a long time.”

For some time, humans have known that the world is round.

In the sentence above, we’re talking about a long span of time—several centuries, in fact. That’s definitely a long time.

For a long time, humans have known that the world is round.

Let’s look at another example:

It will take some time to finish the project today.

Again, we’re talking about a span of time, so some time should be two words.

It will take a long time to finish the project today.

Sometimes: One Word

Sometimes is a one-word adverb that means “occasionally” or “now and then.”

Sometimes I just don’t understand what that man is saying.

English grammar sometimes follows its own rules, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Everybody hurts sometimes.

Plenty of writers have trouble remembering how to use some time, sometime and sometimes. The good news is that once you understand the difference between some time vs. sometime, it gets easier to understand other tricky pairs like any time vs. anytime and any more vs. anymore.

What’s your opinion about academic writing standards?

Academic writing is the epitome of formality and requires generally strict adherence to various style guides—usually a different standard for each subject. Should academic writing and English remain strict and formal, or is it time to relax the rules a bit?

How One Typo Can Ruin Your Job Search

 

Guest post by Robert McCauley

Job seekers receive no shortage of advice from colleagues, peers, friends, and family. Everyone has some nugget of wisdom to help you land the position. Of all the tips you’re likely to receive, this one may be the most valuable: Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.

What does having strong attention to detail have to do with finding a job? Sometimes, everything. Consider these real-life resume mistakes collected by Robert Half; we call them “Resumania.”

RESUME: “Referees available upon request.”

EDUCATION: “Bachelor of ants degree.”

RESUME: “I work hard but do enjoy taking log lunches.”

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS: “Very smard.”

OBJECTIVE: “I want the job at your company so baldy.”

SKILLS: “Excel at working within a tea-oriented culture.”

AVAILABILITY: “I am defiantly open to relocating.”

EDUCATION: “I have a bachelorette degree in computers.”

QUALIFICATIONS: “Typing speed of -60 words per minute.”

TECHNICAL ABILITIES: “Great Microsoft Office skis.”

Statements like these are good for laughs. But, of course, that’s not what the professionals who wrote them had hoped for. Rather than highlighting their skills and experience, they called those qualities into question. As you can see, even a single missing or misplaced letter can make a world of difference.

Still not convinced? Consider this: Three out of four executives surveyed by Robert Half said “just one or two typos in a resume are enough to remove applicants from consideration for a job.” Forty percent said it takes only one typo to rule candidates out. That’s because hiring managers will assume a mistake in your application materials means you’re just as prone to errors on the job.

Here’s how to ensure you submit an error-free resume and cover letter:

Start with spell-check. There’s absolutely no excuse for not running your software’s built-in spell-check function. But even these apps aren’t perfect. Consider also using an additional tool such as Grammarly to give your application materials an extra-thorough examination.

Hit Print. Go old-school by printing out your resume and cover letter. It’s often easier to spot typos when reviewing a hard copy than when reading a document on screen. You also can focus on formatting elements—such as font style, boldface and italics—which spelling and grammar checks won’t scan.

Go line by line. Proofread your documents with a ruler in hand. This simple tool allows you to focus to a single line of text at a time. It’s not a quick process, but it’s worth it. Shift into reverse. Yes, it sounds strange, but reading your documents backward will help you concentrate on individual words. You’re also less likely to assume familiar passages are OK and skip over them.

Ask for help. As a final step, ask a friend, family member or professional contact to review your resume. A fresh set of eyes may spot slipups you’ve overlooked. Another person also can alert you to sections of your resume that might be vague or confusing. Just remember to express your thanks afterward.

What if the unthinkable happens, and you send in your resume only to discover later that it contained an error? It’s happened to me before, and it’ll make your stomach drop.

Unfortunately, there’s little recourse. Resubmitting your materials—and explaining the reason for doing so—will only draw more attention to the mistake. It’s better to hope the employer doesn’t look too closely. At the very least, I can guarantee you won’t make the same mistake again.

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Robert McCauley is a career expert with Robert Half, a leading specialized staffing firm that helps skilled professionals find rewarding temporary and full-time jobs in a variety of fields. Robert has been writing about the job search and careers for more than 10 years. Connect with him and Robert Half on Twitter and YouTube.