My Go-To Writing Styles

I was reviewing some of my work the other day, (which is important to do by the way) and realized that my blogs generally fall into three categories. I enjoy writing ‘How-To’s’, usually planner related because that’s my main passion in life. The next style is ‘insightful philanthropic’ type stories. These are the ones where I’ll read them back weeks later, when they’re ready to post to the public and I will surprise myself even at just how insightful they are. The last main type is ‘filler-fluff’. These are generally pretty short and don’t include much detail about the subject. I find it necessary to have different types of writing since:

1. I write on many different topics, not all topics call for the same type of writing.

2. My audience might get bored with one specific writing style. (It’s similar to listening to a musician’s album - you might really love that one musician, and support them no matter what they put out, but they might not get tons of love from a wider audience).

    

   ‘HOW TO’ TOPICS:

   Since I’m very passionate about my business, organization and planning, I generally write about those topics. There’s the age-old saying that you should write what you know, and boy, I feel like I’m an expert on organization and planning. That being said, it’s amazing what you can still learn even when you think you are a master of a certain subject.

   The planning community (especially on Instagram and Youtube) is amazing. The thing I like most is that we lift each other up. We share ideas and give each other inspiration and advice. I do ‘Plan-With-Me’ Videos on Youtube, showcasing my Franklin Covey Classic sized planner. People watch these videos to see how I keep my information organized and how I specifically use my planner tools. I feel inspired every day when I get comments or questions about my content. It makes me feel very honoured that people take time out of their busy lives to watch what I produce. So, I try to give them the best possible information that I can.

    

   ‘INSIGHTFUL PHILOSOPHY’ TOPICS:

   These types of blogs come from my thoughts and feelings, and still, topics that I feel passionate about. Every single one of us has been through life events and experiences that are unique to us because of our personalities and our own consciousness. No one knows what it’s like to live in anyone else’s mind or body and that’s what makes us all unique. Our perspectives are all different because we’ve experienced different life events.

   Even if two people go through exactly the same series of events, their story will be completely different, because they’re each telling it from their own unique point of view. That’s what makes writing so interesting because we are reading it from someone else's viewpoint. I think writing would be pretty boring if it were simply to detail a chain of events that happened, but not the thoughts and feelings that came from the author.

   Like I said previously, these are the types of stories that I’ll go back later to edit and review, and I will pleasantly surprise myself. Most of the time, these stories stem from some emotional event or trauma that has happened to me in my life. I find these are the most interesting stories, and are at times some of the easiest and hardest to write. They’re easy because I have the most knowledge to draw on for these types of blogs, whereas they are hard to write about because they are sometimes emotional and I feel very exposed when I write them. Basically every story that I write allows the reader to understand a little bit more about my life and about who I am.

    

   ‘FLUFF’:

   Now these are stories that I try not to write as often, because I like to bring value to my audience. However, sometimes people need a little fun, and also, long stories require long attention spans. These stories are generally pretty short, and might include my viewpoint on something, or might just detail a pretty insignificant thing.

   Take my blogs I write on My Favourite Things, for example. It’s fun to read about new products that other people are enjoying, because it is inspiration in a way. I sometimes enjoy these videos on YouTube and have found quite a few fun things (mostly stationery) that I like to use all the time.

   Sometimes, I’ll use these stories as filler when I have a busy day and not much time to write, or when I’m not overly inspired by anything.

    

   You will find that when you write, your mood will affect how your story turns out and in fact, what you actually feel inspired to write about. I think that’s why authors tend to have writing block, because for some reason, on that day, they aren’t passionate about what they want to write about. You do really need to be in a certain frame of mind to write a story of any type.

   Thank you for reading today’s blog, and we’ll see you again next week!

   Sandra