Would you like to help me get better at helping you through blogging? I'd love to hear your feedback. =)

I'm working on writing more posts that people might find useful instead of filling every week with my ruminations. One of my challenges is that posts make sense to me (of course), but I'm sure there are many people for whom the posts don't make sense. Sometimes there are unanswered questions, or extraneous material that I could move to a separate post. Maybe the flow doesn't make sense to other people.

How can I learn how to step outside myself and read my writing with a stranger's eyes? One way is to ask for help: if you can share your thoughts (both content and style) on my posts through comments or e-mail, that would be great. (Consider it an open invitation!) Another way is to pay for help, especially if I can be clear about the kind of feedback I want. (More logic than typos, please!) A third way is to develop a list of questions that I can use to evaluate my own work.

Since this list of questions is useful for both paying for assistance and editing things myself, I worked on drafting this list:

• Title
  1. Does the post title start with a verb? Can you think of a more vivid verb to start it with?
     • Bad: Do stuff
  2. Does the post title help people decide whether this post is relevant to them?
     • Good: specific problem or tip
     • Bad: generic or mysterious post title; title not clearly related to content
• Body
  1. Is the first paragraph focused on "you" (the reader)?
  2. Does the first paragraph or two help the reader quickly decide whether this post is relevant to them?
     • Good: Can tell right away whether this will be too introductory, too advanced, or covering something they already know
  3. Do I share my background (context, etc.) in a way that helps the reader understand what I've learned or how I can identify with them?
  4. Do I share a useful tip that I have researched or personally experienced?
  5. Is the next step clear for the reader?
• How it's said
  1. In your own words, what is the key point of this post?
  2. Does each paragraph have a key point? Do the paragraphs flow logically?
  3. Does each sentence flow logically to the one following it?
  4. Is the key point sufficiently supported by the post? What's missing?
  5. Is there anything here that does not support the key point and that can be removed?
  6. After reading this, what questions will the reader likely have? What will they want to know next?
• Bonus
  1. Do I include research or links to other sources (not my blog)?
  2. Are there related links, and do they look interesting or useful?
  3. What else would you suggest to improve this post?

This particular post does not count as an other-directed post. It's me trying to figure things out. =) The other-directed version of this might be called something like "Use checklists to get better at writing posts that other people will find useful" or "Pay for perspective by hiring editors for your blog". My other-directed posts start with a verb, and I usually schedule them for Thursdays. But if you've got some ideas on how I can write better, I'd love to hear your suggestions in the comments. Thanks!

Related sketches: