My dear readers, thank you for being with me through these 10 weeks. As a new blogger, I have experienced growth in my writing and cannot wait to share the story behind it. I hope it helps with your writing too.
My Writing Process
This is an outline describing how I write a blog post weekly. I usually do exactly like the graph but the whole weekly writing process is about 4 to 5 days. I drew this graph at the beginning of the quarter but I made some changes in the next few weeks to make my writing more efficient. I will break down my writing process and see what changes I made.
How do I come out with a topic?
On the first day of choosing a potential topic, I know what to write. I knew that I am interested in the sharing economy but did now have a chance to deep into it. I am a participant in the sharing economy. Then once I chose this topic, I started to do some research. The first two things that I can think of are Airbnb and Uber, thus they became my first two blog posts. I believed that most people are more familiar with these two products comparing to some other sharing economy products such as TaskRabbit or Postmates. Then every time I started to work on a post, I always want to come out with a topic first. However, in the middle of the quarter, I started to do research first because I found that I could not use my prior knowledge to come out with a topic.
What are on my outline?
The picture shown is an example of my outline for my blog post. Typically I will list out what I have told my readers and what else I want to share with this time. I make a graph to brainstorm first by having some keywords. Then I will have some questions that I want to cover in this blog.
How do I do my Research?
I started to collect information daily for writing my weekly post since I found it would be rush if I do everything in one or two days. I checked out YouTube videos and news in my leisure time but I barely cited them since they are less authored. I would save some websites that seem to have good information but not read them all. When I have time to sit down to do research, I will filter out some sources by using Google Scholar and UC Davis Library. For some sources that I found need to pay online, I would go to the UC Davis Library website to check if it’s available. For example, for a book called “What’s yours is mine: against the sharing economy”, I can access it for free through UC Davis Library.
The Writing Environment
The picture on the left is focusing on my screen but it shows part of my writing environment. I usually write in my dorm; sometimes on my desk, sometimes in the study lounge, or sometimes in the hallway. If you do follow my Instagram, you know that there was one day I could not fall asleep so I moved out to the hallway to make my infographic. (my two other roommates were sleeping.) I like to isolate myself from the world when I write to get myself productive. I don’t mind working in a cafe with background noise as long as there’s nobody chatting too loud that I can hear it.
I was planning to work in some nice places like everyone else. One day I got off from my chemistry lab, I thought it would be great to work by those windows in stairs. However, since I have a comfortable dorm, I just don’t want to pack everything and move.
Anything to do before publishes my post?
Before publishing my post, I read each peer feedback carefully and revise my post based on it. I would also read my post aloud to myself to make sure there are no minor mistakes and sentences flow well. I linked all the sources present in the post. Besides, I enjoyed picking a nice featured picture on my blog post. Then, tag the post. For the tag, I usually put, “sharing economy” or something relative to a specific post like “sharing economy regulation”.
Find your way to write
In the past, I thought wiring is just writing. However, to get yourself more comfortable while writing is really important too! I like to get up in the morning and start writing since there’s nobody in the study lounge at that time. I like to wear some comfortable cloth and a clog.
I don’t eat or drink anything while writing because I need to focus. However, I take breaks! Usually, it’s just a 10-minute break when I get tired. When I felt like I have tons of ideas in my mind, I can’t stop writing. The picture on right shows how’s my food break looks like. I like some fresh things to fresh my mind such as grapes.
Plans for future writing
- Time myself to see if I am productive
- Take a break when getting tired or stuck
- Dress comfortably
- Find a good place to write
- Try not to sit for the whole time
- Revise the post twice
- Get feedback from at least two people
Above is my writing photo essay and hope it gives you some ideas for your writing!
NEW ERA: Sharing Economy and its post products 