Your thoughts on "Free Writing" When Producing Great Content?

10 replies
Hey Warriors,

I own a few blogs and it usually takes me more than 1 hour or more to write good quality content. And a lot of the time I'm not 100% satisfied with the final draft. I get most of my ideas researching other related articles and topics to produce content and I want to escape this habit and rely more on my own thoughts and opinions.

Also, much as i'd love to write everyday I find myself distracted and too busy.

I read a few articles and watched videos on freewriting and it's benefits. How do you guys write great content? Do you use freewriting technique to produce content before editing it?

And if so how has that helped you? I don't like the idea of outsourcing and getting writers to write my blog posts, I think it's a much better for your readers to get to know you and your writing style.

When I sit down to write, sometimes I'm afraid of what others might think when they read my blogs posts. That's why I try to be very careful when producing content but the the fact that I know it has to appeal to my target audience makes it all the more difficult to write.

The content has to be unique, interesting and good enough to keep your visitors from leaving your blog or website.

I find it's not good enough I wont' post at all until I come up and interesting thing to write about.

Also before writing I like to see what my competitors are writing about and pay attention to their style of writing and try to learn something from it.


Would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Thanks!
#freewriting #thoughts
  • Profile picture of the author vedremo
    Banned
    I prefer focused free writing especially if I need to come up with weekly articles/contents for my site. It saves me time in structuring my thoughts on my chosen topic for the week. If I want to be unique and come up with unique articles what I usually do is ignore my competitors. In this manner, I can claim that my article is not tainted nor influenced by trending topics online. Free writing allows me not to spend too much time over analyzing my written articles or my writing style.
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    • Profile picture of the author dana67
      Try to come up with interesting ideas and topics. If you are worried about offending people, avoid things like sex, religion, and politics. Adding content regularly can keep your readers engaged and it may also help with rankings.
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  • Profile picture of the author Johnny12345
    Originally Posted by Commissioner View Post

    I own a few blogs and it usually takes me more than 1 hour or more to write good quality content. And a lot of the time I'm not 100% satisfied with the final draft.

    The simple cure for that problem is to create and follow an outline.

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author Commissioner
      Originally Posted by Johnny12345 View Post

      The simple cure for that problem is to create and follow an outline.

      John
      Thanks John, do you mind sharing an example of an outline? Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    Originally Posted by Commissioner View Post

    I read a few articles and watched videos on freewriting and it's benefits. How do you guys write great content? Do you use freewriting technique to produce content before editing it?
    If by "freewriting" you mean not stopping every other word to edit your text, then that's probably a sensible approach. But not because of the time-saving aspect - more to keep you "in the flow" of what you're writing.

    I wouldn't be too concerned at the time you spend on creating content; better to concentrate on producing the best you can, especially if you're putting your name on it.

    I've often spent days researching and writing a piece for publication. But when you consider that this content could still be helping to earn you a revenue several years from now, it's a small investment.


    Frank
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    • Profile picture of the author Commissioner
      Hi Frank, great point!

      I a lot of my older posts were between 500-600 words but since I wasn't getting much traffic I spent more time figuring out how to produce better content from 700-1000 words or more.

      So I looked to my competitors to see what they were doing that I wasn't and should be doing. I learned a lot in the process. But my main issue is an insecurity that my writing won't appeal to my audience.

      Even though I believe it's interesting I have this idea in my head that my competitors are already writing about my ideas and expertise in a particular niche. This sometimes makes it a struggle to write.

      Although, you are definitely right about concentrating on producing the best that I can and that's what I have been trying to do lately.

      It took me 6 hours to write my latest blog post I wrote yesterday, as I really wanted it to be be more interesting for my readers, good enough that they will share and retweet it across social media sites. I'll wait and see how many visitors that gets.

      Frank, how much time would you spend on writing a blog post in general?

      I have thought about just writing once a week, instead of daily so that when I do post for my blogs It will appeal more to my audience.
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      • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
        Originally Posted by Commissioner View Post

        So I looked to my competitors to see what they were doing that I wasn't and should be doing. I learned a lot in the process. But my main issue is an insecurity that my writing won't appeal to my audience.
        Checking out the competition is all well and good, but be sure to find your own voice. You'll know you're on the right track when you start getting the results you want, whether that's opt-ins to your list, reposts, sales etc. Are you getting any feedback from your visitors?

        It took me 6 hours to write my latest blog post I wrote yesterday, as I really wanted it to be be more interesting for my readers, good enough that they will share and retweet it across social media sites. I'll wait and see how many visitors that gets.
        Yes, if you've put a lot of effort into the post, it should reap rewards - provided you're targeting the right audience and you know what they want.

        Frank, how much time would you spend on writing a blog post in general?
        I don't really blog, as such. When I produce content for a site, it might just be a single video, an excerpt from (and link to) another site with some additional commentary from me, or a longer piece with a combination of content that I've spent some time preparing - perhaps several days. I also outsource quite a bit, depending on the site.

        I have thought about just writing once a week, instead of daily so that when I do post for my blogs It will appeal more to my audience.
        Again, as long as the content you create does what you intend it to, once a week shouldn't be a problem. Concentrate on understanding what your readers want - you don't always have to write the posts yourself - and you'll find your audience will start to grow.

        Good luck!


        Frank
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  • Great content, content that gets shared, goes viral, and gets a lot of interactions takes a lot of work. Most of the time, it is a product of research, hard work, and intensive editing. Don't worry too much about producing content on a regular basis. Focus more on coming up with great ideas for content and building it into something you can be proud to put your name on. It's not a contest on who makes the most content, it's who make the BEST content.
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  • Profile picture of the author ohman1988
    I say quit focusing on what the others are going to say friend. The best thing to do is write in your style, because it works right? Who cares what those others think, some people will always been angry/not happy with certain things, but those people we see every where in life and we surely can't make them happy even if we want!

    The content will speak for itself, one you have created a final draft you should be excited and happy to get it out in the public because it's something you've created and it is valuable to a ton of people, and you're truly helping people! I hope my words help you a little, stay strong friend and keep moving those feet forward!
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    I pay attention to what's hot in my niche using social media signals and I find a subniche and drill down. With the right outline, great content writes itself... QUICKLY.
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