How to Have a Blank Website Where Anyone Can Write Stuff

Staring at the bare page brings fearfulness to many writers. The empty space is calling, but you don't know where to begin. You have no management to proceed and are hoping the muse volition strike and instantly give you the post in full. That rarely happens. Fortunately at that place are ways to begin filling upwards the blank page and turning an idea into a mail.

So far in this series I briefly mentioned my entire process for blogging and final week took a more in-depth look at how to generate ideas. Today nosotros'll consider what to do when you're faced with an idea and a blank page. I'll talk about how I use outlines and research to create notes that will become a blog mail service.

How to Overcome Author's Cake

It's in this phase of the process where author's block enters the motion-picture show and I think it'southward because many, when faced with a blank page, are trying to envision the finished piece before writing a single word.

You don't run into the finished postal service and think the muse is supposed to hand it to you lot. When that doesn't happen you lot say yous're blocked. You might exist amazed though, at how quickly you can go unblocked if yous simply put down a few marks on the page.

Creating an outline or jotting downwardly some notes is easier than writing a finished piece. You know what you're writing isn't permanent or going to be seen past anyone and then you don't have the same fear. You don't have to be perfect and as effect you're free to create.

A funny thing happens when I showtime adding random thoughts to the folio. One thought leads to another so another and before I know it the muse shows up wondering what's going on. He gets jealous when you showtime working without him and joins in to brand sure he gets some credit for your hard work.

3 Means to Fill up the Blank Page

While I'll talk about each part of this stage separately they all happen together and in interchangeable order. If a mail idea is completely empty I'll get-go with a cursory outline, but often I made a few quick notes when I recorded the thought and I probably have some links to sources forth with the idea as well.

These iii parts all piece of work to shape each other ultimately providing a direction and fabric for which to write a draft.

Outline

We talk about hierarchy all the fourth dimension in blueprint. Visual hierarchy, hierarchy in your code, and well-nigh chiefly bureaucracy of content. Your outline creates a hierarchy for your writing. It becomes your championship, headings, and subheadings, and if someone were to read nothing more than those they should come away from your postal service with the key points.

When I create an outline I just jot downwardly a few quick thoughts that I think will exist the direction the post takes. It may change later, but by forming some kind of management it gives me a road to start walking down. Here's my original outline for this post.

• intro
• the parts
  • outline
  • notes
  • research
• the sum
• summary

It'south rather simple. I assume an intro and summary and so make full in the meat of the postal service, which here is discussing the 3 function of this stage in my process and so how they piece of work together. You tin can see the post doesn't follow that exact outline, though it'south pretty close. The outline isn't meant to be anything finished. All it has to practice is make a blank page less blank and give me some management to go on.

Once a week or every other week, I'll go through many of my ideas with bare pages and jot down a quick outline. I probably spend no more than v minutes on any of them. It's office of my idea review procedure. If I can't retrieve of 4 or v things to list about an idea in an outline, information technology probably won't become a post.

Notes

With an outline in front of me, I add a few wagon returns in betwixt each item and start making notes. Under each section I'll simply write down whatsoever random thought that comes to mind. I don't worry if the idea makes sense or belongs in that section of the outline. I just want to get some thoughts down and mankind out the outline.

Sometimes my notes are full sentences. Other times they're bits and fragments. Each is simply a possible idea I'll write about. Here are my initial notes for this department of the mail service.

• place a few blank lines in betwixt each item in my outline
• showtime jotting down any idea that comes to mind
• stream of consciousness
• i don't worry about whether the thought makes sense of belongs in that section of the post
• notes, not sentences
• little past little i mankind out the outline
  • as i do i beginning seeing different ways to organize the post
  • unlike sections that could exist added
• sections i should remove

Can you see how those notes became this section? Once again it'due south zilch circuitous. It's a stream of consciousness thing where I write downward whatever comes to mind, which invariably brings other things to listen that I then write down.

Every bit I add together more notes I start seeing better ways to organize the post and adjust my outline if necessary. I may move notes around betwixt sections and reorganize them within each department. Information technology'due south a back and along of writing down thoughts on the page and so organizing those thoughts as needed.

Research

Not every post I write requires research. This series on my blogging procedure is something that comes from me and so piddling if any research will go into information technology. I already know the process and don't need boosted information.

The series I'm currently writing on responsive design is some other matter. Much of that series requires a great deal of inquiry into what others accept learned. Most "how to" posts here likely had research as a key ingredient.

The inquiry I do could come at any time. By and large it started the moment I had an idea equally it was likely another postal service, magazine commodity, or chapter from a book that led me to the idea. Since I create a new file for every idea, I accept space reserved to collect resources before I ever showtime an outline.

The idea for the responsive series came nigh 6 months agone. Equally I've come across articles about the different topics in the serial I placed a link to the resources into the appropriate file. As the list of resources grows I endeavor to organize them a little to create the beginning of an outline.

Sometimes I don't have those resources before writing. In those cases I'll outline and make notes and then look to which sections of the post I need to better understand. I'll head over to a search engine and kickoff searching. I try never to settle for the first affair I run across and I do my all-time to notice multiple independent sources, though information technology's not always easy.

The resources I gather feed dorsum into my notes. Every bit I read through an commodity I take notes. I'll re-create snippets to quote and rewrite things in my ain words to better understand what I've read. This research also helps shape my outline, suggesting new sections and sections that aren't as important as I initially thought.

Summary

Frequently it's the fear of filling up an intimidating blank folio that leads writers to recall they're blocked. Y'all hope the muse will instantly produce the perfect post. When information technology doesn't happen yous feel blocked.

I don't call back that's writer'southward block. I think that'due south a lack of preparation. It's trying to write a finished piece before you lot know what you want to say. Instead of writing the finished post you can create an outline, make notes, and do some research to exist ready to write.

• Outline — sets a direction to flesh out notes and enquiry
• Notes — modifies the outline and advise where inquiry is needed
• Enquiry — leads direct to notes and suggests changes in the outline

There's zilch to fear since what yous're writing down isn't etched in stone. It's simply a way to get started and give yourself a management to explore. No one will read your notes other than you.

Without having really "written" anything, I've thought through a post thought, given it a direction, fleshed out that direction with plenty of things to write almost, and collected the resources that help me better understand the topic. Again all without having to face the idea of "writing" a post.

This preparation not only smashes through writer's cake and gets you past the fear of the blank page, just equally we'll meet adjacent week can brand writing a draft piffling more than turning your notes into sentences and paragraphs.

Do you prepare prior to writing a mail service? Practise you know what you're going to say when you sit down to write or do you lot assail the bare page hoping what you want to say volition come?

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