Yesterday I concluded my 30-day blogging challenge for Praxis and I couldn’t believe how much my writing improved. A year ago I did the same blogging challenge but I didn’t have any guidance from Dan Sanchez, FEE’s editor-in-chief or my Praxis classmates. You can read my old blog here and see the difference.
Comparing my current and old blogs.
My old posts were less organized and I used to write long, difficult to read paragraphs. Articles and blog posts are supposed to have short paragraphs instead of long, academic style ones. Shorter paragraphs encourage readers to keep reading. That’s one thing Praxis taught me this past month.
The Yoast plug-in on WordPress also helped my readability tremendously. It automatically checks for long paragraphs.
My writing style improved.
Another improvement I saw was my writing style. In my old blog, I didn’t get straight to the point or added value to my posts. Dan Sanchez said many beginner writers make the common mistake of writing like a diary entry, which means writing a personal story first and then adding a lesson relating to the story at the end. It’s too casual and nobody really gains much from it. These personal posts are ok if the reader can learn something from it.
Praxis also taught me to embrace the bluntness and brevity of my new writing style. They said it’s actually better to explain an idea with a few words rather than excessively long paragraphs. Shorter posts are encouraged.
Challenges I faced last month
I never would’ve thought blogging every day could take up so much time. In the first half of the month, it took me two or three hours to plan a post. It had been a while since I shipped content every single day, and I experienced analysis paralysis. I worried about the quality of each post and writer’s block slowed me down.
But I figured out a way to write posts in under an hour or less; write a few points per post rather than five or more because it’ll take too much time trying to elaborate on them. I saved longer posts for the weekend when I had more time.
What’s next?
I’m definitely going to keep blogging every day so I can track my progress. The founder of Praxis, Isaac Morehouse, said blogging every day for a year helped him realize his life goals and he also came up with the idea for Praxis.
I’ve made remarkable progress and it helped me get into a creative mindset. I don’t regret it one bit.