How I Write Blog Articles During my Commute

Crowded train, thoughts in my head, the world in my pocket. I write. I’ve begun the practice of publishing blogs on a biweekly basis. A friend asked me to write an article about my process for doing so and this is my attempt to fulfill that request. 

Setting up the scene 

With a demanding job and a growing family, it’s hard to find the time to write. One has to make time. The time that I have chosen to write is during my morning commute. 

Every day I take a 20 minute train ride into work. I use that time to write what’s on my mind. Here’s how I get it done. 

Pick a topic

I choose whatever topic is top of mind. This week, the topic is my process for writing articles (meta).

Make an outline 

I make an outline for two reasons. 1) to get something down on the page. And 2) a scaffolding for what I intend to cover. Sometimes I don’t follow the outline verbatim but it’s still good to have because it helps me get started. 

Fill it in

I start from the top of the outline and fill in the details for each item. I try my best not to edit as I write. The inner critic is a real thing. What’s scary is that sometimes it’s right. But even if what I’m writing is the worst thing that has ever been written in the history of time, I’ll never get better by quitting. I remind myself that this is my ugly first draft and the goal is to get my ideas out, not edit. I can edit after I get my first draft completed

Edit

The editing phase is the longest. I reread, cross out, add, etc., the items that don’t make sense or needs to be included. Most of my editing is removing words or sentences. I try to make my points concise.  I go over my article several times until I can read through it without making a change or I run out of time. That’s an important thing that I’ll talk about next, setting a deadline.

Deadlines

My publishing schedule is once every two weeks on Thursday. I know that whatever I have by then is what will go out. I’m committed to this and I make it happen no matter what. This deadline helps me focus on what’s important, publishing an article, not trying to write the perfect article. I tend to over-edit, especially since what I write can be seen by all my friends and family, now and until the end of time. If I make one mistake it’ll haunt me for the rest of my life. This kind of thinking can cripple a person’s ability to write anything. But when being done is a higher priority than being perfect you allow yourself to be imperfect. 

Publishing

My done definition is pressing the publish button on my WordPress blog. That is my goal. It is what I can control. I feel a sense of accomplishment when I publish. My non-goals are likes, views, follows, and subscribers. I track these metrics but they are not the metrics I consider when I think about my purpose. Why? I have 100% control over whether I publish an article. I have less control over how people react to it, if at all. I pay attention to those other metrics but they don’t affect my decisions about what I post or how I feel about what I write. This is important especially in the beginning when you are likely not to have much activity. It can be demotivating to experience crickets when you are expecting applause. Focus on publishing. 

Anything else? 

That sums up my process. What’s yours? 

As a bonus, I’ve listed the tools I use to create below. Tools are interchangeable, what’s important is a process. 

Tools

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