How to write a blog post per day?

It's been almost 2 months now since I've been publishing one article a day on this blog, but before starting this challenge, I thought it was impossible, or at least that it wasn't for me.

I have to admit that so far everything is going well (despite a missed day or two) and the results are increasingly satisfying. I already talked about it in an article a few weeks ago, and at the moment I'm writing this one, we've just passed 2000 monthly page views!

That's great, but how do you manage to pull it off?

I don't have a miracle recipe, but I'm going to explain how I go about it, what the different steps of my writing process are, the tools I use and the time I spend on it each day to show you that yes, it's possible, even though it requires a bit of investment!

Writing down ideas

What changed everything for me was defining a goal for my blog, not in terms of numbers, but in terms of content.

Before, I wrote about very different topics that appealed to me at the moment, but the best decision was to write specialized articles for junior and experienced web developers.

Writing down my ideas has therefore become much easier: as soon as I see a topic come up on the internet, in a discussion, or in my day-to-day job, and writing an article about it could help some developers, I add it to the list of future articles.

I also think back to the concepts I learned during my studies that aren't taught in short training courses, which helps me add more topics.

I've also stopped thinking that if a topic has already been covered on another blog, there's no point in me writing about it. If, by simplifying a topic, I manage to improve the understanding of at least one person because that person follows me and connects with my writing style, then I've done my job.

Having a list of about fifteen ideas in advance lets me choose to write a short article if I have a lot to do, or a more detailed tutorial if I have some free time.

The draft

Even though I don't have a miracle method, my secret to sticking with something is turning motivation into routine.

So every evening, I grab my phone, pick one of the topics from the list that inspires me the most, and for about fifteen minutes I write down everything that comes to mind on the subject, trying to organize and group all this information in a logical order.

I stop as soon as all the written content is done (without formatting, images, or links) and let it rest overnight on my phone.

I write all my ideas and my draft on my Google Keep app, which lets me switch from my phone, to my iPad and my laptop without any issues.

Just be careful to keep the app updated, otherwise syncing gets disabled!

Editing and final additions

Every morning, around 8:30 am, I spend between 30 and 45 minutes reviewing, correcting, and formatting the draft.

Sometimes I also finish writing the draft if I didn't have time the night before, but I always make sure I have at least the outline of what I want to write so I don't forget anything overnight!

The writing wraps up with finding the links, images, and media that I noted down the day before, and incorporating them.

This whole part is done directly on my blog, because sometimes copying from Google Notes to Ghost (my blogging editor) causes some formatting issues.

One last read-through, checking the title to try to make it attractive on social media (no clickbait, mind you), and for SEO.

It's only at the end of this step that I feel at ease, I know my article is about to see the light of day!

The icing on the cake

All that's left is to find the cover image for the article.

I usually find what I'm looking for on Unsplash, but if needed I fall back on the Pixabay website, or I create the cover myself from a photo or a screenshot.

Then all I have to do is crop it with Photoshop, add the information for social media, and publish the article!

On average, an article takes me 1 hour out of my day, I start my writing week on Sunday evening and finish it Friday morning.

The weekend lets me rest and build up a few topics for the following week, and sometimes also improve my blog's structure—for instance, I added comments and reactions at the bottom of each article last weekend! Feel free to make good use of them!