Creating posts on Steemit ^.^

This post will be rather educational (or so I thought in the beginning). You probably have seen how many different ways of making a post exist - probably as many as the people on Steemit. This one will be dedicated to the structure of the posts on my blog.
Haven't really shared that, but I usually spend more than 2-3 hours a day preparing the images/links, writing the text and and checking for errors and inaccuracies. (one of the reasons I make a post every two or three days - it really takes a huge amount of time from my daily tasks)
This may not sound so complex for a person from an english speaking country, but for me is hell of a challenge every time.

Another thing that can make my work even harder is my propensity to speak more than to writе. Even when taking exams my written English is usually horrible and full of mistakes. XD But it's a life-long journey for me and believe it or not - I've improve my writing skills in English a lot more since my first post on Steemit. ^.^

That is why I decided to take my time and explain my way of writing and why that could be helpful to others - some may start their journey on Steemit now, others may just look for different ideas for their blogs. Whatever the reason may be, I really hope you find this post interesting.

Basic structure

01 - Thumbnail picture
02 - Greetings
03 - Main topic of the post
04 - Main idea/source/inspiration/reference
05 - Works in progress
06 - Final image
07 - Conclusion

When I first started my Steemit account wasn't very sure how my posts should look like. If you've followed me from the very beginning you'd know how small and unprofessional they were - more images than words and not enough info about my works, the tasks and challenges I faced during the progress. One word - insignificant! XD
Honestly, I was scared to write because of my fear of failing...

01 - Thumbnail picture

The first image that the viewer see is the thumbnail or the preview picture. It's even prior to the title and it should show only the most interesting element of your post. I usually spent half the time of the whole post on the thumbnail creation only.
Why?
Think of it as the business card of your post. It contains only the most important info: an image; an image and a text/logo; a logo only.
It depends on the topic. Sometimes I even make a simple animation if have enough time and energy. ^.^
Here's a sample of one of my previous posts:

I wasn't very sure of the size until my participation in @sndbox' monthly thumbnail contests - they used 1000x600px with 72 dpi. I use the same dimensions since then.

02 - Greetings

For this part of my post I'm gonna use a very old explanation of mine, but it's still true:
"I got used to this greeting ever since a made my deviantart account.
Lately have more time to explore some incredible artists on Steemit. One of them @shinyforest inspired me to be more creative with my posts by adding additional visual details and borders. I'm a visual person (I tend to judge a book by its cover not its resume) so decided to do something about it. And so this will be my greeting image from now on (maybe I'll change it later, depends on my mood, hehe)."

03 - Main topic

I usually start with a small intro about the main topic of my posts - that's the text just after the giant inscription Hello, dear ones! It usually contains a few sentences about the idea I'm going to introduce, the events surrounding the writing of the post or the mood I'm in. In general - an introduction to my readers about the subject, a form of preparation for the essential part. You can say it's an equivalent of a scientific report summary ... without key words, of course.

04 - Main idea/source/inspiration/reference

After that comes another paragraph about the main idea of my creations (I also include main source, inspiration or a reference which I almost always use). This usually takes the longest time to make - so many links, sites, reference pictures, explanations about my inspiration.
Sounds fair, because everything I'm doing must have a purpose.
Like in design - it has three main elements:
01 - Structure
02 - Function
03 - Semantics

05 - Works in progress

And... here comes the best part... because it mostly contains images, illustrations, visual forms instead of text. I usually add some explanation if needed... sometimes... XD
I love taking lots of pictures showing the progress when painting digital illustrations. I'm never satisfied with the result and can make several alterations on one artwork which can take years to complete.

06 - Final image

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.
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As i said final doesn't always mean final, but sometimes I have to stop and take a break before I returning back to a particular illustration. Or just leave it at that.
You can learn a lot more and gain experience after going through the whole process instead of concentrating on some details and stick to them making changes endlessly.
Better finished than perfect as people say.

07 - Conclusion

This is rather new feature that I decided to add to my posts. I am not a fan of the sudden completion of any subject. I have friends who love to leave an open end to a conversation, but this creates an incompleteness, not a very pleasant feeling.
So, with a few sentences, I finish the article because everything must have an end. I like to give different wishes to my readers so that there is no copy-paste material, and sometimes I even give hints what to expect.
As in the tales of Scheherazade, a new story is starting, but the real part remains for the next night. ^.^

Well, hope you like my semi-serious post about how I make my Steemit posts. XD
Have a happy day, everyone!
Thanks for stopping by!