How I Write a Blog Post

Image: Rawpixel

 

A very kind Leaves on the Tree subscriber suggested to me earlier this year that my readers might like to know my process for writing a blog post. So, Donna, this one's for you!


Where I Get Ideas

Most of my blog post ideas spring from my research. I might come across a really great document, such as the letter I found in a probate file which I wrote about last week. Or I make an important discovery or just want to document some aspect of my research process, a particular methodology, or a resource that I've used, like the WWII Alien Registrations database I discovered on Ancestry.

Here are a few examples of other post inspirations:

• Holidays—For the past few years, I've done four Christmas related posts in December, as I have several family stories, memories, or heirlooms that I wish to share.
• Courses or classes—I love to learn about new methodologies, record sets, etc., so I often take classes or courses. Writing helps me process what I've learned. For example, for the past three years I've written about the Research Like a Pro 14-Day Challenge as a way to show how easy and useful this process is to making research progress. I also wrote about the work I did as a result of Gena Philibert-Ortega's Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) course on material culture, where I researched a Slovak-American cathecism booklet that belonged to my grandmother, for example.
• Heirlooms/Artifacts—We've inherited many items from both my own parents and grandparents as well as from my husband's ancestors. I often research the items and write about them.
• Longer stories—A fairly new focus for me is writing longer series of 3-4 posts on one topic, such as my series earlier this year on Mary Jane Sheridan, where I did a deep dive into her life. I've also done such stories on my Civil War ancestor Michael Gilbride and what became of him and his family over time, among others. 
• Research Trip Finds—My recent trip to Western New York and Canada inspired several posts on my discoveries and visits to local cemeteries, churches, etc.
• Theme months—I did several posts to celebrate Women's History Month, posting on my Mom's ham soup recipe, a prayer book, an autograph book, and more. I wrote a post about a different document or photo for the month of January one year. Another year I wrote bios of all my direct line ancestors through my 2nd great-grandparents in a month (see tag #31DaysofWritingFamilyHistory).

I have found that ideas come pretty easily to me now that I have been writing for several years. I keep track of all my ideas in the Trello app. If I ever have a dry spell where I'm not sure what to write about, I can always refer to my idea list to find a topic for the week.

A portion of my Trello board for Leaves on the Tree. Each "card" is an idea for a post. The color blocks are labels that correspond to the ones I use in Blogger.

Writing the Post

Writing the post is usually spread out over several days. I have become comfortable with just sitting down and writing. I know that my first draft will not be perfect, so I just write. I come back to the post over the next few days to refine, expand, correct, etc. 

My blog is published on Blogger and my drafts are usually done there. Sometimes I draft posts in Word so that I can use the Editor to find most of the corrections that need to be made. Another great feature in Word is "Read Aloud." This is helpful as sometimes I will hear things that don't make sense that I missed when reading it. 

I use the "Read Aloud" feature under Word's Review tab to catch awkward phrasing or other errors that I might not see when I proofread my post.

 

Citations 

I'm embarrassed to say that I did not cite my sources when I first started my blog. At some point I decided I wanted my research to be taken seriously and began citing sources in every post.

Where do I create the citations? When I am researching, I always keep a research log. I use a free research log template created by Nicole Dyer of Research Like a Pro in Airtable. I like to think of Airtable as a spreadsheet on steroids! It really helps keep me organized and focused. 

In my research log there is a timeline tab for the research subject and one column dedicated to source citations. When I begin a project, I create a timeline of what I already know about the research subject and cite all those sources there first. As I develop a focus and begin to research, I record what I find and create citations for newly found documents as well. When I am ready to write, I have the citations I need and can copy and paste them into the Notes section of my post.

A snippet of my Airtable research log for a project on Maria Jane Darragh. Citations are in the last column shown here. 

After I've drafted the post, I look through it paragraph by paragraph and add a citation number after each  image or sentence that needs a citation. Then I copy the citations from my research log into Blogger. Lastly, Blogger does not have a superscript function, so it is a manual process to superscript the citation numbers in the text and in the notes section. To superscript the numbers, I switch to "HTML View" in Blogger, find the citation numbers, and add the code ^{before the number and} after the number for each citation.

 

Finishing Touches

I like to add good visuals to my blog posts to capture a reader's attention. Sometimes I provide my own photographs of heirlooms, artifacts, or places I've visited. I also search on several websites to find an appropriate image. My go-to is rawpixel.com. Search results there can be filtered by "free" or "public domain" images which are free to use. I simply download them and insert where appropriate in the post. Other sites I use include: Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress, and Clker. I sometimes want to use an image that requires permission, such as a photograph provided by a family member, for example. I ask for permission first before using the image.

The Hubs is the last set of eyes on my post. It's become a Tuesday night ritual that he looks over my post one last time before I schedule it to publish on Wednesdays. And it's a rare day that he doesn't find something that doesn't sound quite right or a misspelling that I missed. I appreciate his last-minute help!

 

Summing Up     

Every writer will have their own process and it may evolve over time. My process has developed since 2018 when I began Leaves on the Tree. No process is right or wrong...it's made up of individual choices each writer makes in response to their own needs. What works for me might not work for you and vice versa. 

As new tools become available to writers, new choices must be made. The use of AI has become more and more prevalent in the writing space. While AI may be a useful tool for some writers, I choose not to use AI for post ideas or writing. I have waaay too much fun thinking of ideas and crafting the posts to let anyone else—or anything else—do it for me! Everything on Leaves on the Tree has been and will remain 100% written by me.

I hope that some of my process has been informative or helpful. What about you? What is your process? How is it different or similar to mine? Drop me a comment and let me know.

Until next time... 

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved.