✍️ Only 1 of These 6 Steps Is Actually Writing

Hi my friend!

Okay so this week I want to take you behind the scenes of how I actually write an article.

I’ve already talked about some parts of this process several times, but I realized I’ve never shared the full picture. And I know that a lot of people would like to read what it takes to write an article from start to finish.

Honestly, when I say I’m a content writer, people who aren’t in marketing imagine it like a romantic thing, where I sit down with a cup of coffee and wrap up an article in 2 hours or so.

I mean, that’s partly my fault because I share those nice moments from a coffee shop and I do enjoy the process. But it’s much more time and energy-consuming than it seems from the outside.

So let me walk you through how it really goes.

First, a client sends me the brief with a keyword and some basic details.

And at this point I already know their writing guidelines inside out. The tone, the structure, all the dos and don'ts. Because that's something we set up right at the start, when we begin working together.

So I'm never starting from zero. I already know exactly what "good" looks like for them.

I do my preliminary research in two parts:

First, I want to know what people are actually struggling with. So I go dig through Reddit threads where people talk about the topic. What's frustrating them, what they're confused about, what solutions they're looking for.

These threads get long (they always do), so I copy all those conversations into a Google Sheet. Then I hand it over to Claude and ask it to find the patterns for me. The pain points that keep coming up, the questions people keep asking.

And just like that, I have a really clear picture of what people actually need from this topic. Which is the whole point, honestly. That's the difference between an article that's actually helpful and one that just... exists.

Then I move on to the SERP analysis.

I Google the keyword and study what's already ranking. This tells me two things. First, the kind of content people expect for this search. And second (this is the BEST part), it helps me see the gaps.

I take everything I learned from Reddit, what people are struggling with, and I hold it up against what the top articles actually cover. And the gap between those two?

So I add an information gain section to the brief. It describes the angles or the details I’ll add to my article to make it better than the existing ones.

Sometimes, it’s the piece of information I’ll cover that others are missing. Or I’ll explain something better than they do. Sometimes it's a whole angle nobody covered. Sometimes I’ll add better examples or screenshots to illustrate the point. Sometimes I’d add an insight from someone who's actually done the thing, which those articles never have.

So, it depends on the article, but my goal is to write a piece of content that is better than what’s already ranking.

And here's the part I really want you to get. This makes the different every single time. There's no template for it. Figuring out what my article says that the other ten don't, is the actual job. That's the part I get paid for. And it's the kind of human judgement I think AI will never replace.

I structure the whole thing and write the outline. It has to be logical. The sections in an order that makes sense, with titles clear enough that you could skim the whole article, jump to the part you care about, and skip the parts you already know. Easy for a human to read, and easy for Google and AI to understand.

Then I send it off to my editor.

And they either give it a thumbs up, or they catch something I missed. A section worth adding, a better way to frame it. And honestly? Their notes are usually so good. They make the article better.

Once the editor and I are on the same page regarding the angle and the outline, I go deeper into the research and start writing.

I personally go section by section. I dig deeper into the research for every section. I collect the notes, statistics, examples, and expert insights for each part of the article.

And if I think something would work better as a visual, I leave a note in the draft for the designer so the graphic actually helps illustrate the point.

I do rough notes first, and then I go back to write out the whole thing.

The first thing I do is read the whole article start to finish, pretending I'm the reader who just landed on it from Google. And that's when I start cutting things. Sentences that aren't really doing anything. Spots that need a better example, or a bit more depth. I just go through and fix all of it myself.

And then, I run it through a Claude project I built with the client's full guidelines loaded in. It scores my draft against their standards and shows me where I might be drifting from their guidelines and expectations. It keeps me aligned, and it saves me and my editor a ton of time when it comes to revisions.

Then it goes back to the editor for the final round, and we're done with the heavy lifting.

So... the question I’ve heard a lot: how long does an article take me? Honestly, the writing itself is maybe a fifth of it all 😅 The rest is research, and figuring out what to actually say to make the piece better than the existing competition.

Considering all of the steps I’ve described above, writing some articles from scratch have taken me 5-10 hours, while others have taken me 20+. It all depends on the depth of the article we’re aiming for.

Anyway. If you write too, for yourself or for clients, I'd love to know where your time actually goes. Just hit reply, I read every single one 💙

If you’re interested in starting a newsletter like this, try out beehiiv (that’s what I use).

See you next week,
Kate 🌟