3 ways to liven up your blog posts

If your blog could use a little more punch, listen up. Here are three ideas that anybody can use to make blog posts sing with some editing bling.

1. Start with the conclusion

School and business environments condition us to write in a linear way. We start at the beginning, discuss the middle, and conclude at the end. To grab your readers and improve your blog, start with the end.

That’s right. Give your readers the conclusion first. The blog-reading public is busy and unforgiving. If you don’t grab them in the first sentence, you’ll lose them. Tell them exactly why they should keep reading.

2. Edit ruthlessly

Cut extraneous words. There is no good writing, only good rewriting. Go through your post and delete everything that doesn’t move your point forward.

This can be difficult—especially if you’re proud of what you wrote—but get tough and do it. Your readers will thank you. Most of my posts end up 20 percent shorter than they were before I edited them.

3. Bring some heat