1. Write every day.

A writing habit makes posting much easier. By establishing a writing habit where I write for at least 15 minutes every morning, I am producing every day. I call these morning writing sessions freewrites—it’s low pressure, just whatever comes to my mind, as it comes.

These freewrites all have a different feel. Sometimes my fingers are flying across the keyboard, and I’m scrambling to get ideas down. Other times, I don’t have much content at all, or fill the page with nonsense like “jsnfkjsfnkj” (this is the equivalent of an expletive for a writer). But when freewrites have potential to be turned into a blog post, I nurture them, like a coach would nurture a talented athlete with Olympic promise. Yes, I personify a lot of things.

At the end of the day (literally), I’m just training myself to put down words that perform well and charge down the home stretch to the final punctuation mark. But I don’t judge myself if I spend the morning writing a paragraph of close-to gibberish, nor should you. They key is to keep the habit.

2. Simple format.

I like the clean and simple format of my blog: white background, chronological list of posts, one featured image per post. It makes it very clear where to go (i.e., check out one of my stories!), and the titles/subtitles give you a taste of the post without spilling all the beans from the get-go.

A simple format is also better for viewing on mobile devices, which I’ve learned is how most people access blogs. I’m surprised at how busy and chaotic some successful blogs are. But hey, they’ve got a following, so they’re doing something right. Nonetheless, I still think simple is better and helps my content stand out.

3. Niche.

Trying to find my niche as a blogger is hard going. There are millions of bloggers out there, and we all want our posts to matter in some way. How do you get other people to care about what you’re writing?

You must find your audience. This is something I’m still working on. My stories range from a Q&A with my IUD, to what the coronavirus would say, to an interview with an avocado, to why I left a good job. Needless to say, I think my posts are fun and helpful, but they run the gamut. Here are some questions I am asking myself to hone in on my niche:

• What kinds of posts do I get most excited about, or are easiest to write?
• Is there a common theme among most of my posts?
• If I were to brand my writing, what would the buzzword be?
• Which posts get the most views?

In summary, I’ve learned to write a lot, keep writing even when it feels like a Herculean effort, maintain a simple layout, and find that audience (who are those visitors?). Perhaps most important is that blogging takes a level of bravery: sharing your writing—something that you made up—can be scary, especially when you’re a sensitive person (like me). However, I’m humbled that my posts are reaching people, whoever they are (nice to meet you!), and that, along with my intrinsic motivation to put good out there, is what keeps me going. That said, thanks for reading!