Let’s put aside grammar and spell-checking and all of that for a minute. Everyone does some sort of technical or more substantive form of editing for their blog posts. But most editors use a combination of editing techniques to increase the value and the appeal of their content. Most of them are easy enough that anyone can apply them and it doesn’t take a whole lot of time nor expertise to do so. Perhaps you can use it to improve your own posts.

Open with a key point

I am guilty sometimes of being so taken away by telling a story that I forget to tell my readers what they are going to get out of it. You need to give your readers something to look forward to. It is basic human instinct to think “what’s in this for me?” and that’s a question you should look to answer from the get go. Readers need to know if a post is worth their time or not, and altering your posts to make sure that it does measure up to this test is the first of a few editing techniques you can use. The temptation is to make your point further into a post. Don’t. Hit early, hit hard and go home. Even if you are looking to tell a story, moving the key point up the order will not harm a story telling style. But it will affect the way your readers see the post, and that makes a big difference.

Mirror the content in the title

If I were to write a post that says “5 tips to get ready of that crazy girlfriend” (not that I am, sweetheart…I love you…really), then I’d number the sub-topics one through five. If it’s a list of positives and negatives, I’d make sure those are clearly mentioned. Make the content mirror the title and it will be a better fit in readers minds. The title is a promise, and the content should be its fulfillment. Failing to do so could leave your readers feeling dissatisfied.

Link back to a theme

Many posts, especially if elaborate, end up seeming disjointed. Don’t make a point in a paragraph or sub-heading and simply move on. End each paragraph with a concise point that sums everything up. Think of it as a takeaway, and it’s something for the reader to mull over, your entire argument in one sentence. It aids comprehension. And helps readers understand you better. If needed, add links or references as needed to support your argument and build credibility.

I don’t know if this happens to you at all, but it used to happen to me a whole lot of the time. The very mention of writing or putting my thoughts down on paper (or a computer screen) would leave me with the most terrible feeling in the depths of my stomach. I thought of how my words would be dissected with clinical precision and great gusto by those that read your blog. In any case, I used to feel that there are so many more meaningful and popular blogs that used to talk about the same things I did. How could I ever be as popular as them or as awesome as some of my favorite writers? How could I mimic their writing styles?

This is something that very many writers know fully well. It’s a crippling, debilitating, terrible fear to have, that you will never be good enough. It can be inspiring and intimidating to want to write as well as your favorites. It’s something to aspire to, or something that can really be your personal Everest, something you might never really surmount or that you feel will never surmount. But with time, I have learned something; the more you try to be someone, you are not being true to yourself. When you do that, your writing can never be of the quality you want it to be. What’s worse, it will never get the audience you want to since you’re simply an imitation of someone else, sometimes in a painfully obvious manner.

You must do everything in your power to avoid the paralysis that besets any writer when they think of trying to live up to the stature of their favorite wordsmith. But stop comparing yourself, you’re never going to sound like them just like they can’t naturally sound like you. Be comfortable in your own skin, and you will taste a lot more success once you start doing that. It doesn’t matter that everyone else has been at it for much longer, or even that they have more listening to their every word. Do you believe that there will never be a new face on the scene ever? If you do, allow me to tell you are wrong. No, I’m right, you’re wrong. Let’s run with that. A new star will always emerge, and it could be you. Start now, blog away and you could get noticed.

Every one of us (and yes, that includes you) has something about them that is fantastic and unique, your own calling card, your own secret weapon in the fight to win minds and eyeballs. Tap into that which makes you uniquely you and you will prevail. No other blogger can present your experiences, your memories and your perspective quite like you, and this is a fact. Pick a topic that you find interesting and are passionate about and write about it as well as you can. Just follow your own writing styles and watch the hits keep on coming.

Dark, moody, mysterious and enigmatic, Donald Draper is the alpha male and a seductress in male form. He’s powerful, he’s charismatic and he sends everyone scurrying for cover when he gets pissed. Of course, it helps that he is portrayed as a creative genius, a glass of bourbon in one hand and a pack of cigarettes at arms length to keep him company. All he has to do is have his back turned to the camera and look out over the city, his city, and he captures the collective consciousness of a generation. Our generation. He is incredibly cool and magentic, and he is a writer just like you or I.

Peggy, Don, heck even Roger; they just sit around and wait for the perfect idea to hit them, but it is Donald Draper that convinces them to spend the big bucks on ad campaigns in the Emmy Award winning series. Millions fawn over his carefully constructed campaigns and consumer culture and his character spawns industries and helps them become a household name like no other. And all he needs is the power of words. Nothing less, nothing more. Now that is very cool. You think it, you write it, you get it out there, and it changes the world. There is no way that cannot be construed as cool.It seems so far away, just like the generation portrayed in Mad Men seems so far away, but it really isn’t. Let me pick out a few select quotes from the hit show and I’ll explain how they apply to blogging and even life just as much as they do to advertising.

“I’ll never get used to the fact that most of the time it looks like you’re doing nothing.” ~ Roger Sterling

A writer’s blessing and curse is that he can be just looking out the window and still working, or sitting at a pool side and still having the gears churning. It’s relaxing. It’s enjoyable. It’s all part of the workday. Sometimes, just doing nothing is the best thing you can do, for if you don’t it’ll make your creativity dry up. So just stop and think on occasion. If anyone asks what’s on your mind, just say you’re working. It’s true.

“Fear stimulates my imagination.” ~ Donald Draper

Fear is a terrific thing, whether you believe it or not. If you’re afraid or anxious, it means you will be on edge and churning out some of your best ideas if you just let it flow unfettered. If you’re afraid, you have a cause to work towards, a reason to act. How many entrepreneurial stories have you heard of where the individual in question was broke and had to make things work lest he starve? It’s not just good luck that saw them prevail. Put a gun to your head and see the upturn in results, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve when you will it to be so. I personally pledge to donate $100 each day to a political party I despise if I don’t hit my target of 1500 words a day. It’s a painful thought, but it works and it’s a powerful motivation. Find yours.

“A slogan’s nothing when you have a good idea.” ~ Peggy Olsen

The best of writers are a cornucopia of ideas. They will assiduously assimilate information at all time, listening, watching and reading away until they get that “Eureka!” moment. Finding the right idea is tricky, putting it across not so much for the skilled writer. Amateurs work the opposite way, writing the article and trying to stumble upon the idea while doing so. Take one idea, but make it a great one, and build your entire article around that one premise. Ideas are everything, and it takes care of everything else.

Writing can really be a bit of a struggle for most of us, but if you were to be completely honest, writing in itself isn’t the hardest part. Whenever someone asks for writing tips, no one will really tell you to spell better or to use proper grammar. That you know that is a given; everyone knows how to piece content together in their own manner. Perhaps sometimes you need to leave an article to simmer overnight before you put the finishing touches on it, but by and large writing in itself isn’t the problem. Most of the best writing tips I’ve heard of address a simpler, often unaddressed issue; one to do with getting started.

Once the ball is set in motion, it’s easier to just get things done and write away as much as you want to or need to. But starting can be absolutely killer. I can’t tell you the number of times I have started to write something before pondering over it, letting minutes pass by before I wipe it all away because I’m displeased at something or the other. It’s all about finding that elusive groove while writing, and once you hit it the words just flow like water from a dam that has just burst. To just sit down and write would be perfect, too perfect maybe. But perhaps there is a way to expedite the process of finding that groove.

Perhaps the single most important thing you can do is to just be wholly devoted to writing. All too often a distraction sets in; your kid hollers at you, a phone rings, hunger pangs set in and those are just a few of the possibilities. It’s imperative that you don’t disturb that rhythm of yours, that you don’t derail that train of thought. Because once you snap out of that rhythm, it’s very hard to get back on that horse. It’s as good as gone with the wind, just kiss it good bye. Adios amigos and all that. Cut out the distractions, it will hamper your creativity like nothing else. Get some quiet time, a window of opportunity within which to write and stick with it.

Get yourself your own space in order to do so. As an amateur snooker player, I’ve played in some little cubby holes where I would line up a shot and draw my arm backwards, ready to bring it forward in one fluid motion when I find my elbow bumping against a wall and my space being cramped. Now that sort of thing obviously distracts you too and takes away from the moment. There’s no way you can write quality when your style is being cramped. You need your own room, you need to clear things out and you need to de-clutter the space around you. That translates into using an ergonomic chair, using a comfortable keyboard and using a well lit room so you don’t squint around in an effort to make out what is what. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is no fun and it’s no way to get serious work in. Get serious about your space.

Writing should be comfortable, a pleasure, so try and derive as much satisfaction as you can from it. There’s no point in being a mindless drone about it. Only finely tuned Olympians and athletes can derive pleasure from routine that is singularly compulsive. Enjoy yourself and the rest will follow. You will a topic that inspires you, an angle that sparks your mind and the words will just flow magically. Try it, you’d be amazed to see how it works. You’ll be reeling off the articles and posts in no time.