The other week Leo Babauta of Zen Habits fame did a live Q&A on his writing blog Write to Done. I was fortunate enough to get my question in and answered by Leo and it was great to be able to interact with a true blogging hero.

Here’s my question:

“I am a fairly new blogger. I don’t have a problem coming up with ideas for posts, defining post structure and writing the first draft, I do however struggle to finish, and edit my posts for publication.

Have you any tips for applying the finishing touches to posts, and editing to take them from a draft to publishable form. “

And here’s Leo’s answer:

“@Chris: Tips on taking a post from draft to published post … I generally follow the same structure and write my posts this way:

* I’m a list-maker, so I’ll often start with a list of tips or main points
* Then I’ll write an intro that shows the reader why he should care about the post. It might be anywhere from 3-7 paragraphs. Not too long.
* Then I’ll expand the list — it might turn out that each point in the list is a subsection of the post, or they could just be items on a list with a few sentences after the main point.
* To put on some finishing touches, I’ll often do some quotes from great people, maybe links to relevant articles (on my site or others), and definitely a great photo that attracts the eye.
* Of course, don’t forget a great headline!”

I’ve been following Leo’s blog for a long time now and it was one of the main inspirations for me to take up blogging myself. I do follow a similar posting pattern to above and it seems to work for me.

It was great to get an insight from such a great blogger and I recommend you check out the post to see all the other questions and answers if you are a blogger as well (as I know a lot of my readers are).

• http://writetodone.com/2008/11/20/ask-leo-live-qa-for-bloggers-and-writers/

Incidentally if you are a new, or not so new blogger and haven’t read Yaro Starak’s Blog Profits Blueprint then I can highly recommend it (you can download as an audio book for free too - I listen to it in the car).

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Bits & Bobs:

• Had a great time in NYC, thanks to all those staying in touch via Twitter.
• I’m planning a series of competitions on my blog starting very soon. Make sure you are subscribed for more updates.
• I made my first money online with an affiliate sale via my blog! It’s nice to get some money towards to costs of hosting etc.
  

Image Credit: by Oberazzi on Flickr via Creative Commons

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Time for Three:
Reading around the web:

• http://genuinechris.com/2008/11/30/sidebar-up-goals-and-more/
• http://flabble.net
• http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/why-you-shouldnt-care-what-others-think-about-you/

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Thanks for reading.

I hope you enjoyed my post. I’d love to hear your comments below or get a Digg or Stumble!