Lisa Pierson

Sweat.

Tears.

Hair pulling.

Nail chewing.

This is just some of what your body can endure when you have a blog. Or when you attempt to write a post.

It?s so much work, and the stress can be brutal at times. So much that it makes you want to quit.

Admit it.

You bail on those posts sometimes. Don?t you?

You decide to tweak your about page, or look through your Twitter stream, or even clean the keys on your laptop. Anything to avoid writing that post.

Why is it so difficult?

And why do you keep putting yourself through it?

You?re not getting any more readers.

Your subscription list is in a constant two steps forward, two steps back state.

And you can?t seem to get the engagement levels that so many other bloggers have.

Maybe you?re better off on the sidelines. It?s easier being the audience, the reader.

Well, you know who else has these thoughts but pushes through them?

Marathoners.

They have sweat. They have tears. Hair pulling and nail chewing, not so much. But they have blood, blisters and bladder issues to deal with. They have more gory issues too, but this is a family show folks, so we?ll leave it up to your imagination. And if you?ve run a marathon before, you know what I?m talking about.

So what lessons from marathoners can bloggers learn to push on when things get tough?

Besides the promise of a participants? medal and a dry bagel at the finish line?

The following nine lessons will get you through the sometimes grueling process of blogging.

And these lessons are practical. If you?re looking for inspirational clich?s or for ways to channel your writing muse, this is not the post for you.

So put your shoes on. Let?s go.

The Start Line

If you?ve never run a marathon, you may think the actual running part is what?s difficult. It is. But just getting to the start line is difficult too. And that?s not a metaphor.

Your alarm wakes you up at 4:00 am. You eat your pre-run tested breakfast. You get dressed.

Do not underestimate that last step.

I know you?ve been dressing yourself since you were a child, but it takes on a whole new dimension when dressing for a marathon. Why? One word. Chafing.

Then there?s transportation. Do you have a supportive friend who has no young children, enjoys waking up before sunrise on a weekend, and is willing to drive you an hour or more to the race?

And you won?t be your usual cheerful self on the ride there either.

No, you?ll worry ? out loud – that you should have eaten the whole banana instead of the half. Or that you should have brought nine energy gels instead of seven. Plus, any digestion issues you may be having. And if you?re not having any digestion issues, just wait until mile 20, my friend.

So what can bloggers learn from this?

Well, it?s not easy to start writing a post. It?s probably the hardest part. And you have to do it several times a month, or more. When you sit down, you may not even have an idea in your head yet. But if the race starts at 7:00 am, you can?t say you?re not ready yet. You just show up and start. This is what you gotta do when it?s time to write.

And it doesn?t end there. Writing one post is just the start. You?ll also need to create a plan for promoting on social media, give a compelling reason why readers should subscribe, oh, and don?t forget to create a great freebie like a checklist or a whitepaper.

So much to do, but at least you don?t need to worry about chafing.

How do you get started? Try one of these lessons:

Lesson 1:?Schedule a time in your calendar to write

Stick to it. When it?s on your calendar, it becomes a part of your day, not something you try to squeeze in if you get the chance.

Lesson 2:?Get a blogging buddy

Someone you?re accountable to. Tell them you?re going to send a draft by Thursday at 2:00 pm. There?s nothing like a commitment to a friend to get you moving.

Lesson 3:?Fuel your body

Good nutrition and sleep are not just important for athletes. It clears your mind and helps you focus. Make it a priority.

And away we go

A common strategy for marathoners is to divide the race into thirds. If you?re thinking about mile 22 in your first mile, it feels overwhelming and a long, long way away.

So you only think about the next eight or nine miles. It?s more manageable.

The first chunk of time, you?re seeing how things shake out. Is your hamstring feeling okay, can you sustain this pace, and should you have included that Bruno Mars song on your playlist?

When you?ve finished that first section, you can re-evaluate. You might be feeling great and can push your speed. Or it?s warmer than you expected, so you adjust your pace and drink more water.

You can do this when blogging too. Don?t think about hitting the 2000-word mark right when you start typing, or selling your e-book before you have any subscribers. Getting too far ahead of yourself will slow you down. You lose focus. You get distracted.

Focus on one thing at a time. And when you?re done, move on to the next.

Use the following ways to do so:

Lesson 4:?Be specific about your goals

For each block of time you?ve set aside, just work on one thing whether it?s headlines, an email campaign, or building your profile on a social media platform.

Lesson 5:?Be flexible

Maybe you?ve written the introduction for a post, and you suddenly get a great idea to include in the conclusion. I wouldn?t wait until conclusion writing day. Get it down now. Sometimes, you get a little wind at your back ? so go with it.

The lost miles

A time comes in every marathon when the energy and excitement of the beginning ends, but the finish line is nowhere in sight. I call these the lost miles.

This is when your mind starts playing funny tricks.

You see a tree, and there?s a glowing light surrounding it. Calling you. Telling you this is the perfect place to take a nap.

Or you wonder why you thought this race was a good idea. It?s not a good idea. It is, in fact, a bad and painful idea. You should stop.

And you think about stopping. But then what?

You’ll experience immediate relief. Then regret. Then shame.

So you keep running instead. It?s actually easier than dealing with the shame of stopping.

Then you start humming the chorus from that Bruno Mars song. You hum that same chorus, again and again, for the next five miles.

You’ll get no immediate payoff when you?re nurturing a subscription list or while you?re in the middle of writing a blog post. It may even feel like a chore. But you don?t want all of the work you?ve put in to waste away. Yet, you?re not sure where you?re going with this whole blogging thing.

It?s so much work, and you can?t even tell if it?s going to lead somewhere. Will anybody actually read it this time? Or what if you write a killer post but then never get another idea again?

So many thoughts are running through your head.

Maybe you?ll just finish writing one more post, then quit.

Yes, let?s do that.

Or, you could try this:

Lesson 6:?Think about how you?ll feel if you stop

Unsatisfying, right? When marathoners feel like stopping, they tell themselves they?ll just run one more block or until the next water station. When they get to that spot, they do it again. You can finish the whole race, an entire post, or a newsletter this way.

Getting Closer

Marathoners have a saying. They say that all of your training is for the last six miles. Yes, you?re running 26.2 miles, but it?s those last six that count.

The end is in sight, but you?ve got the most arduous miles ahead of you. You?re definitely not going to stop now. You might walk, or limp, but you?re still upright and moving forward, dammit!

You can?t decide what?s more painful. Is it your left hip, your right ankle, or your lungs? Or that once-loved Bruno Mars song? (You?ll never listen to it again.) Everything else is numb. Numb or painful. I?m not sure if I?ve emphasized the painful part enough?

And now there?s a hill. Really?

Why do the spectators look so relaxed and cheerful while holding their stupid coffee cups and wearing their stupid athletic wear? They?re not even participating in a sport. They?re just standing there. Why do you need to wear Lululemon just to stand there? Don?t they know what you?re going through?

Sorry. I?m cranky. This part?s hard. It?s a bit difficult to find perspective.

Oh.

Is that?

Yes, it?s the finish line. Look at all these people cheering for me. I love spectators. I can see the end. I can really see it! Here I come. Watch me fly.

I get that same unexpected burst of energy when I?m close to completing a blog post. This is really happening, I think. I?m really going to do this! The words, which were so difficult to excavate earlier, are streaming through my fingers. The keyboard on my laptop sounds like a tap dancer rather than the slow drip of a leaky faucet.

Yes! I did it! My 17 subscribers are gonna love this post!

Maybe your second wind comes when you hear from a reader who says your blog helped her learn a new skill, or when you get a bunch of new subscribers, or when you finally figured out how to add that widget to your site.

And when you get that second wind, it feels incredible. You feel powerful and forget about the struggle ? you think, ?That wasn?t so bad.?

Which leads me to some final lessons:

Lesson 7:?Success looks different for every runner and blogger

Maybe you?re an elite runner, and you?re gunning for gold, or maybe this time last year you could barely jog around the block. If you?re new to blogging, getting a single post out every month is a success; if you?re a veteran, you may be looking to sell your book to the subscribers list you?ve been nurturing for years. Define your own success.

Lesson 8:?Compete with yourself

Marathoners are competitive people who are always working for a personal best. Most are not trying to beat someone else; they’re trying to find excellence within themselves. Strive to improve something every time you sit down to write.

Lesson 9:?Encourage your fellow bloggers just like a spectator cheers for a marathoner

Comment on their posts, or share them on social media. When it?s your turn to get cheered, the encouragement will help you to keep moving forward.

The Finish Line

You did it! You crossed the finish line. Whatever your finish line is ? a move to full-time blogging, financial independence, or consistently writing a post.

Things were rough for a while.

But you kept up your momentum. One step at a time.

It wasn?t easy. You endured pain. And the voices in your head almost made you stop.

Think about how you feel right now. Good, right?

No, not good. Awesome! Like you can do anything you want.

Enjoy this feeling. Remember it. You earned it.

You?ll think about this feeling when things get difficult again (and they will).

But you know how to cope now ? with nine solid lessons to keep you going when you want to quit.

With these lessons, you?ll look forward to new challenges. Why? Because every challenge you meet changes you for the better.

But for now ? enjoy a long shower and a good meal. You deserve it.

Your information is solid.

Your take is unique.

And you?ve got your niche.

But it?s still just a handful of people on your subscription list.

It feels impossible to get more readers. And the ones you do have are not engaging with your content. Just silence ? except for the occasional notice about unsubscribers.

The writing comes easy. You?re bursting with ideas. It?s really just a matter of transcribing your thoughts.

When you read your finalized posts, you like how you explain every detail, but it doesn?t sound as exciting as you feel it should.

It leaves you feeling empty, like you?re missing something.

That something is the step you must take between writing and publishing your post.

You must edit. And not just a spell check and a scan for missing punctuation.

If this is your idea of blog editing, there?s good news. Your posts will only get better.

But before we start, you should know something first.

Editing hurts. It demands focus. It takes nerves of steel and a willingness to say goodbye to that brilliant turn of phrase in paragraph 42.

But once you learn how to edit, you?ll have readers hanging on to every perfectly thought-out word, foraging through previous posts to get more of what they crave, sharing your words with their hungry friends, and waiting, with mouths watering, for your next polished post.

Ready to serve up some quality copy?

Appetizers

Before we get to the entr?e, let?s talk about how you can revise your introduction to whet your readers? appetites.

You may have some facts and preamble that are endlessly fascinating to you about what led you to write a particular post.

But you know what?

I hate to say it.

I don?t care about the dry facts or the boring preamble. Not at all. Nobody else does either. Even your mom. She?s just being polite.

We all just want our information and carry on with our day, thank you very much.

I?m being selfish you say?

No more selfish than you wanting to write a page of backstory before you tell your audience what you?re writing about.

(I?m rubber. You?re glue.)

So when you?re editing an introduction, you may discover that some of the facts are better sprinkled throughout your post to back up your statements, or that the information you have in paragraph four has the most interesting point you want your reader to learn.

But how do you know if a fact is dull and what the most interesting point is, especially when you think that everything you wrote is so very interesting and necessary?

Think about it this way.

You?re watching TV and you see a giant monster invade your city, rampage through the streets, and crush buildings as if they?re made of cardboard. The newscaster says the monster is a result of an experiment gone wrong and explains the scientific facts behind it.

You need to get out of town. On the way to your car, you see your neighbor over the fence. Do you tell her about the facts or the experiment first, or do you skip that part and go straight to, ?Get the heck out of town before the monster crushes you!?

Once you?re safely in your car, you can fill your neighbor in on the details and the back story.

You want to compel your reader to keep reading. And by offering the tastiest morsels first, you make it easier to swallow.

Deleting the first three paragraphs will be hard. It will cause you some anxiety.

What if your new version stinks and you can?t put it back together? Or you put it back together and it doesn?t quite look right? Kind of like that Ikea bookshelf.

If you truly can?t bear to delete your words, paste them into another document. They may work better further into your article, or you can save them for another post.

But you?ll probably never see them again. Carry on.

Hot Dogs

Okay, let?s get to the meat, or to the meat-like substance.

Read enough blog posts and you?ll see a whole lot of filler. Long-winded stories, interminable anecdotes, and superfluous details.

It?s like hot dogs. They?re made up of lips, and, well, other parts you don?t want to know about.

After you?ve eaten that hot dog, you don?t feel so good. You?ve got a tummy ache, and you?re a little bloated. Then, an hour later, you?re hungry.

You won?t be fooled by a hot dog again.

This is how you feel when you read something that?s in desperate need of an editor. Full of stuff you don?t want, and the bits you do want are drowning in mustard. (Or ketchup, if you eat your hot dogs wrong.)

Take a look at the following paragraph that?s in need of a good edit:

Researchers from the National Walkers Health Study analyzed 23,000 people who walked 30 minutes three times per week, and 15,000 people who were sedentary. Over a five-year period, the research group looked for differences in health outcomes for the two groups. Scientists discovered that walking just 75 minutes per week improves fitness and reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes. All participants were between the ages of 35 and 65.

How to improve it:

Scientists say that walking just 75 minutes per week improves fitness and reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes.

This is good news for sedentary people. Even just a small amount of physical activity can make a significant difference to your health.

Researchers learned this after a five-year study that examined both moderately active and sedentary people.

The first example buries the interesting stuff under some dull information and sentences.

Forcing your readers to find the good stuff will send them looking elsewhere.

Steak

Instead of giving your readers filler, give them some quality information.

Give them steak. It?s a meal you look forward to. A special occasion meal.

Don?t you want your readers to show up hungry with anticipation and leave satisfied? Satisfied and looking forward to that sweet, sweet melt-in-your-mouth taste again?

So give them what they want. They want to be informed, or entertained, or inspired.

They don?t want long-winded musings, or stream-of-thought ramblings.

When it?s time to edit, remove the filler, and give them premium fuel:

Short paragraphs

Whether you?re new to blogging, or you?ve been at it for a while, you know one of the basics is to keep your paragraphs short and scannable.

This doesn?t necessarily mean you write a paragraph with six or more sentences and then divide it up during your edit.

First, eliminate words and information you don?t need. You might just end up with two sentences that say the same thing, but better.

Take a look at the following:

All exercise programs will help you to improve your fitness level, no matter what level of fitness you are at currently. Whether you are sedentary, a weekend warrior, or a beer league athlete. The problem is that people are not consistent with their exercises and routines, or they get impatient with the speed of improving their fitness, or they are unrealistic about the fitness level they think they can achieve. My cutting-edge program combines over 10 years of experience, successful results for my clients and backed up by the latest scientific evidence as well as real-world experience.

How to improve it:

My exercise program has proven results to help you achieve your fitness goals.

Whether you are sedentary, a weekend warrior, or a beer league athlete, I have the experience and scientific evidence to make things work for your lifestyle.

I will help you overcome the obstacles that have prevented your fitness success.

Short paragraphs are easy on the eyes. And despite having fewer words, they say so much more to your readers.

Concise sentences

Trim the fat. You don?t need phrases such as ?at the end of the day? or ?due to the fact? or ?unbeknownst to me.?

Remove these phrases, and leave only the words you want to say and nothing else.

Full of fat:

Due to the fact that people are not getting enough exercise there is a growing epidemic of preventative diseases.

Lean, mean writing machine:

Regular exercise prevents disease.

When you don?t remove excess words, it slows down readers and muddles your brilliant thoughts.

Easy to understand analogies

When you write to educate about a specific industry or a complex idea, see if you can use an analogy to explain it. Review your post and look for jargon ? if you find some, take it out. Think about your readers, and explain it in a way they can understand.

You might have an auto repair blog post that explains why OEM parts are superior to aftermarket parts, but if your readers aren?t familiar with these terms you?ve lost their attention.

Or worse, you?ve made them feel stupid.

Remove the technical jargon, and replace it with an analogy. Let them know it?s brand name versus generic, and they get it.

Active voice

Use an active voice. “Eat that juicy steak.” Not a passive voice. “A hot dog was eaten by that sad-looking man.”

An active voice is both more interesting to read, and it creates authority and credibility. When you write with a passive voice it sounds like you don?t quite believe what you?re writing.

Scan your post for passive voice, and see if you can make it active. That?s not always possible. Sometimes, your only choice is a hot dog – as all parents who?ve been to a school fundraiser know.

Redundancies

Eliminate redundancies from your writing. Redundancies occur when you write information that is repeated or not necessary.

Like this:

The hot steak is hot.

This is better:

The steak is hot.

Or like this:

Removing redundancies gives you the opportunity to tighten your writing and improve the reading experience. And we all want to write better. When you remove sentences that say the same thing as another sentence, it makes for tighter writing and better reading.

Do this instead:

Remove redundancies to improve your writing.

Sometimes, you want to repeat information for emphasis or to make it stick in your reader?s mind. If you do this, it should add to the reading experience. Like a side of buttery mashed potatoes.

Walk, then talk

After dinner it?s nice to go for a walk before you eat dessert.

It gives you time to digest. To create some space in your tummy for that chocolate cake.

So give yourself some time away from your post too.

Create some space in your mind. Give your thoughts some room to move.

When you?re ready to review your post, read it out loud.

That?s an effective way to hear the rhythm of your writing, and to find inconsistencies with your style.

If you?re aiming for a conversational style, you may discover that your writing sounds formal when you speak it. You might have missed it is or you are when writing, but when spoken, you hear that you should turn them into contractions of it?s and you?re.

You may also find that you keep stumbling over your sentences when you?re reading out loud. Stumbles can indicate more editing is necessary.

Or it might just be that your mouth is full of chocolate cake.

Dessert

Getting your words on paper, or online, is just the first step in creating delicious content. The kind of content that readers crave.

Before you deliver your appetizing words, take some time to edit. Making hot dogs is easy, but steak takes skill.

With these Grade A tips, you can slice and dice with the best of them.

Forget the filler. No more handing out empty calories to your readers.

Because you want to serve up the leanest, most flavor-packed post possible.

And now you know what to look for. Get rid of those redundancies, banish the boring backstories and add some analogies.

With these edits, your posts will satisfy your readers? hunger, leaving them full, satisfied, and looking forward to more.

Bon app?tit.