Building a Blog

Writing is like building. There are steps to complete before you can open for business. Starting with a thought or topic is like digging the hole and pouring the foundation. Nothing can proceed without a direction for the essay. I never worry if my topic seems off color or disconnected. I have plenty of time to rework it. It’s a starting point and holds the rest of it up. A business article could start with a news item about Walmart breaking into the online selling market. I would add opinions at this stage and include at least some direction, the basic point.  

After the foundation comes the framing. Framing is the discipline stage. It takes the longest and forms the largest part of the project. This is tying ideas together and stress testing them with research and logic. No one writes an essay and makes up the details. Details are like the steel beams. You need to understand how ideas fit together and strengthen the structure. History, philosophy, personal experience and statistics reinforce the thesis. The Walmart story needs some background and figures for a fuller picture. Framing helps fit those into place and support whichever conclusion is needed.

Without proper research your ideas fall flat like a camping mattress when the air is let out. I try to avoid generalities like "really big" or "very expensive" without including objective facts.

After the framing is up the floors and infrastructure get added. By infrastructure I mean plumbing, electrical, drywall and windows. I’ve missed a few key installations but you get the point. This isn’t really about building, it’s about writing (so settle down carpenters). I think of this as the second draft of the essay. The first draft is putting your ideas into a type of vertical grid. It’s a way of telling yourself, this the general point of what I want to say. Stay within the frame. The second draft is where cleaning happens, the rough sentences shaved off, ground down. On closer inspection some areas need more depth and some just need to go. After a thorough edit the article is almost ready.

The last phase is the exterior phase. Add whatever article links or graphics will help make the words pop, I add them and do a grammar check. I always find more sloppiness to clean up even in this phase. After a final inspection, the essay is ready to post.

 Most of these phases happen automatically now. I don’t consciously realize when phase 2 or 3 have happened, I just kind of roll into them. What’s helpful for me is to avoid trying to say everything perfect in the first phase. I tell myself “Don’t do it”. That’s what editing is for. Besides, you’ll make yourself crazy cleaning up every error and the ideas won’t flow. They jam up in the brain like water in a kinked garden hose. I’ve learned in writing that perfect is the enemy of good.  The ideas are supreme. Get the thoughts out of your head first and then edit. Edit a few times if you have to but don’t slow down because of mistakes. Just write.

I've heard a lot of writers describe their process. They’re all a little different but the ‘stages’ thing seems to be true across the board. Stephen King uses a “Door Open/Door Closed” policy when comes up with new material. He writes with the door closed first to get out all the nastiness in his head. I take that to mean he uses poor grammar, run-on sentences and weird ideas to get some of his thoughts on the page. Some ideas are too weird even for King apparently. Then, he opens the door and cleans it up so it takes on a polished look for presentation. His stages take on the same form, rough at first but presentable later.

Some of the stuff I write requires more research and verification than others. Anything with economics means I’ll fire up the Google machine at least a few times. I need a sense of numbers even if when I don’t need specifics. If not I’ll be guessing. The “here’s my story” classic blog bits don’t demand as much (like this one for instance). My memory isn’t great, but details can be inferred if I remember a setting or a general conversation.

As much as I love to read fiction I have trouble composing dialogue in general. Non-fiction and essay writing come more natural to me. I can’t say why. I guess it has something to do with understanding a character’s motivations and writing from different points of view. Not everyone talks or thinks or acts the same way. We all understand situations differently and our speech reflects our underlying biases and philosophies. It’s tricky for me to vary patterns in dialogue and shorten sentences so the speech sounds like actual people talking. My speaking parts often read like professors giving oral histories on niche topics, too long and too wonkish. People don’t talk like that.

 I just think fiction takes more work. I am building it just the same.