The Perfect Blog Post Fill-in-the-Blank Template
My son went ice skating this week. This is maybe the third time in his life this southern California boy has gone ice skating, and he hung onto the perimeter most of the time. He was far from alone.
The middle of the rink was mostly empty space, whereas the perimeter was filled with people who needed something to hold onto. He complained about the slower traffic in front of him and especially about one person whose preoccupation with her cell phone was holding everyone else up.
As a seasoned Los Angeles driver, I could relate.
As it is with my son and ice skating, it is with me and my writing. Sure, I can slop words on a blank screen like the best of them, but there’s always a little bit of hesitation, an anxiety with the process that, at times, can cause me to procrastinate. I’d much rather hang onto something on the side.
For me, that “something to hold onto” is an article-writing template. This template allows me to not only create a fill-in-blanks outline but fill-in-the-blanks content as well. Writing from a template has given the linear thinker in me — I’m a scientist by training — the railing and support from which to let the creative thinker in me flow.
By the way, before you dismiss this as formulaic, many artists credit structure for allowing them the framework to do their best work.
Without further introduction, let’s get right down to it. Here’s my template.
By the way, you can access your own version of this template here. Simply save it as a copy so you can edit it yourself.
Here is how I filled out my template to write this article (click here to see the full version in a Google doc)
If you want to see me complete this template in real-time, check out my YouTube here.
From the completed template, I now can write the rest of this article, never having to stare at a blank page.
Why Form?
Though most modern poets have abandoned traditional form, they still study and write in it, if only to veer off from it in their own work. Learning form provides the creative springboard which allows for even greater creative expression.
Form provides constraints that can allow for even greater creativity.
Eric F.Rietzschel in his book Individual Creativity in the Workplace agrees.
“Creativity is commonly thought to depend on freedom and a lack of constraints. While this is true to a large extent, it neglects the creative potential of structure and constraints…. I will explain that freedom, while important for motivation and creativity, also implies complexity and cognitive load, and that this may, paradoxically, diminish creative performance.”
For example, as a science teacher, I’ve attended workshops on more than one occasion in which I’ve been teamed up with others to “build a bridge.” Now, if we weren’t given any constraints and had open access to Lowe’s, we’d spend hours, perhaps months, designing and building our bridge.
Invariably, however, the workshop would give us only 15 minutes to design and build it, and limit us to only a few items such as toothpicks, glue, and straws.
By constraining us in both time and materials, we were able to be more creative and lessened the cognitive load of trying to figure out how and where to begin.
How to Veer Off From Form
Once you have the template in place, your article almost writes itself. Expand your points into sentences and your sentences into paragraphs.
This template is meant only to guide you, however, not constrain you. Just as a violinist spends hours and years practicing her scales, she doesn’t go on stage and perform scales for the audience. The scales do not limit, but rather inform her technique, allowing her to perform with greater mastery.
For me, once I have the template in place, I can write freely and oftentimes rearrange the points I want to make and where I want to make them. Because once I start writing, the content often dictates the structure rather than the other way around. Still, the template reminds me of what points I want to make and I weave them in the article where I see fit.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
― Pablo Picasso
We all want something to hold onto, just as my son wanted to hold onto the sideboards of the ice rink. Given the security of the sideboards, however, he was able at times to leave them, balance himself on his own two narrow blades, and really skate. So too, with writing. Using a template can give you the security of something to hold onto, while at the same time allowing you to leave it, balance yourself on your own two feet, and really write.
I hope you find the template useful.
If you’re serious about building your tribe with irresistible content that brings in followers, leads and clients on autopilot, go over to melaniescalendar.com, fill out the form there, and we’ll get on a call to see if we’re a good fit and go from there.
