Deciding What to Write About – Researching – Synthesis of a Blog Post. A Personal Approach by @katerinaramm (Part 2 – Researching)

Researching about your steemit post

Today I will try to shed some light to my process of how I am researching for writing an article. Keep in mind that this is just advice based on my experience. Each one should do their own research about improving their research : ) Also, It is very important to know the topic you will be writing about and to note your personal ‘twist’ in everything that you blog about. Unless of course you are an unbiased journalist, then you already know how to research and you do not need to read below!

STEP 1 – Ask Yourself

Do you already have a subject?
If you do, go to Step 2
If you do not have, please take a look at my #part1 or this post by my friend Ilias.

STEP 2 – Orient Yourself

What I first do is write a couple of draft headlines that will guide me through to the process / character / content of my article.

STEP 3 – Gather Information and Read Carefully

I research online (or in books I have) as much as I can regarding the topic. It is important that we have read information so that we can form our opinion and describe with our own words what we are about to share with the world.

STEP 4 - Make Sure that the Information you are Reading is Trustworthy

Internet is a world full of information. Not all of them are true, you have got to be extra careful which websites you are using for your information gathering. Reputable online newspapers can help you form an opinion but depending on the topic you are writing about, you may need more notable papers such as scientific papers, whitepapers or anything that has an authenticity which cannot be denied. You would not want to be proven wrong or post information that is not right.

STEP 5 – Write Down the Structure of your story

If you have no bones, you can have no body. If you have written an essay or a project in school, you know that it needs to be well structured. So write down some sub-headlines about the topics your article will cover. These can change in the process of writing, but at least you will be having your draft structure to begin with. It is important that there is a prologue, the main body with clear sub-parts, and ideally an epilogue (conclusion or call it however you wish. My friend @trumpman sometimes calls it .. The End)

STEP 6 – Improvise

Some times as you start writing your article, it will come out very differently that what you expected it to be. Let you fantasy and originality drive wherever it may be. You may find yourself with a much better article than what you initially thought. It of course depends also on your topic and your theme.

STEP 7 - Proof Read

Always step back, let you article "breathe" for a while and then read what you have just written. Is it clear? Does it need any adjustments, clarifications? Can everyone understand what you are writing about and why you are writing this post?

STEP 8 - Be Original

Your story needs to have specific answers to these questions:

• Why is it written?
• What is it about?
• Will it be useful for someone(s)?
• Is it original?
• Does it include your personal point of view?
• Is it well-formatted and easy to read? (We will cover this on part 3 of this series)
• Would you read it if someone else had written it?

Concluding

It all comes down to what you wish to write about, and how well you know a subject. If you have already knowledge about something, it will be easier to research about it and to have a point of view or something new to share.

Just make sure that your work brings value to someone, to your friends, to the community itself (and of course to yourself!)

Good Luck and please let me know your comments below!

Thank you very much for reading!

Important!

Please note: I have found two links to have very useful information and I suggest that you read them. One of them is by @steemstem (a project regarding science related subjects) but the guidelines posted are of great importance & value for all steemians.
https://steemit.com/steemstem/@steemstem/being-a-member-of-the-steemstem-community

Also, this is one of the nicely written posts about scientific research that you can check out and keep what you would like for your research procedures.
https://blog.bufferapp.com/how-we-research-a-look-inside-the-buffer-blog-process

More Important!

Take a look at this post again by @steemstem which mentions copyrights regarding images used. I have found it to be super useful for everyone, regardless their topics.

(Blue is never out of fashion and fits everywhere!)

_{All images & Graphics are mine}