Part VI is the second part of this section of the series on how to keep generating fresh content for your blog. The previous section answered the question of what to do if you are running a personal blog. Readers should note that some (if not all) of the points we raised in that section can be adapted to any section of this series. Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV addressed the issue of not being able to generate fresh content on a personal blog by looking at things that could be blamed for lack of fresh ideas for new content. Part V, which is the first in this section that answers the question of having a blog that is consigned to one type of content looked at Getting People Involved and various innovative and commonplace ways you can get people involved. Part VI looks at an “out there” answer.
Out There Answer 1
Create Long Chain Articles
Do not allow the “long chain” to scare you. By the time we are done with this you will find out that it is quite simple to understand and execute. Getting more people involved is a traditional way of having fresh content on your blog (although we added a few tips and tricks that might not be so common; go see for yourself in Part V). Doing long chain articles on the other hand is a great way of generating fresh content for your blog without hiring or asking anyone to guest blog. Please pay attention to this because this is how this series came about (it is a long chain article), more on this later.
Definition of A Long Chain Article
A long chain article is an article that initially starts out as a short article but somewhere along the writing, you notice an evolution pattern that could extend the article into multiple articles. These are articles that generate in themselves interlocking content that can stand alone yet still connect with the next lock, making a series of them or a web of articles. Please read the previous two sentences again.
For instance, you started with the intention of writing an 800 word piece but you realize that the article is linking out and extending itself either through the addition of connecting concepts and thoughts or the breaking down of initially stated concepts and thoughts into smaller bits. The smaller bits tend to explain the bigger concepts in a more detailed manner. However, whether it is the breaking down or the addition of connecting concepts, the initial 800 word article extends itself exponentially thereby forming a long chain article (I always like sounding scholastic). Forward all your questions to me.
It is a long chain article when it starts out as a short article and when you notice a vein of extension during the writing process. It is not a long chain article when you have already planned a manuscript and follow it through. That is a book even when you do not know the end from the beginning. It must be a short and concise article that extends itself within and from itself for it to be a long chain article (by now you should know that I am a stickler for definitions, see Guest blogger in Part V).
TYPES OF LONG CHAIN ARTICLES
There are two types of long chain articles. The first one we will be talking about is the Logical or Natural Long Chain article and the second is the Web-chain article (see initial definition).
Logical Long Chain Article
Logical long chain article follows a line, each concept interlocking with the next. They can stand alone but the connection is strong and hold together just nicely.
Web-chain Article
A web chain is made up of articles that are indirectly connected. The new articles come from the one the you currently writing. You may be writing on a topic and from that topic mention something in passing. As you mention it, you realize that you cannot fully explain it but can only touch on it within the context of what you are writing. It needs an article of its own to explain it beyond the context of what you are currently writing. You could be writing one article and from that create a web of articles just like the one we just mentioned.
- They are connected because you can refer to them in context
- They deserve another article to explain them fully and beyond the context of the initial article.
So while a natural long chain natural extend one article by adding sub-heading and strongly linked themes together, a web chain touches on a theme or another topic contextually and needs a new article to make that article stand on its own and beyond the context of the other article.
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Web Chain Articles[/caption]How to Capture a Long Chain Article
I am deliberately using the word capture because if you do nothing about it when you first notice the vein of extension or you postpone doing something about it by storing in up in your mind as you continue writing, there is a strong tendency that you would lose it altogether. You might recall bits and pieces but it will not be like when you first noticed it, so you have to capture it and immediately incorporate it into the article.
Typical Example
The article you are reading started as a short 750 word article but along the way, I noticed that it could extended well beyond the 750 word. As at this point, it has already taken some six thousand five hundred words (give or take a hundred) to cover and there is still more to come because I am following a plan (with all the subheadings and what to cover in place).
You can see how a long chain article can continue to generate fresh content that is relevant to a particular theme if you have a blog that is confined to one. A web-chain will also help create variety and web-chain articles can spring up from natural long chain article because the more you write, the more you come across themes and topics you can only explain contextual but you know there is more content there because its meaning and relevance goes beyond the contextual interpretation you just did.
This is a way of writing a never ending story of sorts and when you have web-chains spurning out of natural long chains, you have a mix of variety for your blog that will keep you going for a long time.
We have dealt with our first “out there” answer, the next part of this series will look at the second “Expected Answer”
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