On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Six tricks for writing.
Here’s six tricks for writing help me save time and effort in writing consistent content.
Tip #1: Don’t write in WordPress
If you use WordPress, don’t write drafts using the WordPress software, especially not the Admin section on your site. Instead, use a note taking app. I use Apple Notes because it syncs between my devices and has limited features. Yep, I intentionally said “limited” features
Writing in a note app saves me time because I don’t get distracted as much as I would if I was using the WordPress editor.
Tip #2: Schedule your posts
Here’s a secret: I didn’t start writing this post this morning. I actually wrote it on Thanksgiving weekend along with the 1st to 5th Days of Christmas, and then I scheduled it to publish two weeks ago.
Scheduling posts to publish in advance saves me effort because I’m not panicking to publish something on the same day that I start writing.
The next tip explains how you can write your posts to always have more than enough to schedule for publishing.
Tip #3: Set up Three Buckets
Jeff Goins has a great method for setting up three buckets for writing: Ideas, Drafts, and Edits. Here’s how it works:
- Ideas: Write down 5 ideas for 5 posts. I can usually get ideas from questions asked by readers, and I outline the ideas using Ray Edwards’s PASTOR framework (explained below).
- Drafts: I spend one day picking one draft out of a pile and writing the first draft.
- Edits: I spend another day editing my draft, putting the draft into WordPress, finalizing any graphics and then scheduling for publication.
Here’s what happens if you combine batch scheduling with the three buckets: over a week of writing only 45 minutes a day, I can crank out 3 weeks of posts and have them scheduled, plus have ideas for two more for next week. This also helps when I want to promote special content over a shorter period of time.
Using Jeff Goins’ Three Buckets saves me time and effort because I can consistently crank out content on a regular basis and don’t have to think as much.
Tip #4: Use a framework
As a member of Platform University, I got to watch an interview with Ray Edwards and Michael Hyatt, where Ray shared a great framework for writing content:
- Problem: Describe what’s wrong.
- Amplify: Show the worst-case scenario if this problem continues.
- Solution: Show a quick summary of the solution
- Testify: Explain how this solution has helped you or others.
- Offer: Give the solution to help.
- Response: Call the reader to some action.
Using Ray Edwards’ PASTOR framework saves me time and effort because I don’t have to think as much when writing, since I have a template to follow.
Tip #5: Use a timer and the fastest writing tool on hand
If you’re using the Three Buckets and PASTOR framework, you can reasonably finish a post after two or three days. How much time you spend on those posts is up to you, but I suggest reasonably looking at how much time you can invest per day and then capping it as the least amount of time available.
For example, if during an average week, Wednesdays are the busiest and you can’t spare more than 45 minutes that day for writing, then give yourself no more than 45 minutes every single day. Also, use a timer
Everyday I give myself 45 minutes and not a second more. I give myself 45 minutes for the Idea bucket to generate ideas. The next day I give myself 45 minutes for writing a draft. The next day, 45 minutes for revising the draft and then it must be scheduled. Once the timer’s up, too late.
The next tip is the hardest tip of all. Are you ready?
Tip #6: Commit to publishing on schedule
Once you’ve written your posts, schedule them to publish on a certain date and walk away. Here’s something I’ve learned this year from following Michael Hyatt, Jeff Goins, Ray Edwards and others:
- If I wait to publish a post when it’s “perfect”, I’ll never publish it.
- If I fix a period of time to write and then schedule it to publish regardless of how imperfect it may be, I will publish content consistently. It may not be perfect, but it will get published consistently.
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