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<p>This is a free writing attempt at squeezing my thoughts out and also to ask for some your advice on how you all go about writing effectively and efficiently.</p>
<ul>
<li>Budgeted time: 30min<br>
5min brainstorming / 25min writing</li>
<li>Actual time of writing: ~ 40min (Bleh! I exceeded again)</li>
</ul>
<p>The text below were the works of the free writing attempt .. not following 100% religiously to the supposedly principle of it .. Feel free to comment and critique me .. and also all advice is welcomed!</p>
<p>The original article is here:<br>
<a href="https://steemit.com/health/@efongym/health-aloe-vera-a-detailed-review-of-it-s-health-benefits-past-and-present">Health: Aloe Vera - A Detailed Review of it's Health Benefits, Past and Present</a></p>
<p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/6ZYapb4.jpg"/></p>
<p><strong>==================</strong></p>
<p>I've just written an article and it was so exhausting! I've estimated about 3hrs and the entire process took me up to about 10hrs.</p>
<p>It was frustrating .. it's a habit .. that I often started off going too deep and left with too little for the rest of the content. A thing that I just gotta keep reminding myself ..</p>
<p>So what was the initial intent of this article? A detailed write up of Aloe Vera from it's historical background to modern day usage .. and backed by solid trustworthy sources. However there were already issues that have surfaced when I started my research .. which I took for granted .. the warning signs:</p>
<ul>
<li>There are just too much information to be taken in. From the scientific reports alone, there are thousands of it .. some conclusive some inconclusive .. some even in the opposite directions.</li>
<li>These information were mostly too scientific .. going into the various compounds that were making Aloe give a positive results. Then all the scientific process and jargons that were needed to be googled to find out what they even mean. This also meant that it's not possible to just present to a layman without putting them off!</li>
<li>There were many conflict pieces of information .. deciding which to use and what to discard is also painful! I'm not a Scientist, Chemist or a Biologist!</li>
<li>Technical papers were too technical for casual reading. Sorry for the pun!</li>
<li>Another habit of mine took over .. the inquisitive me .. the me who wanna dig deeper .. then I went deeper and before long .. I'm so lost! </li>
<li>The research topics were too diveresed .. due the "completedness" of the article that I've initial envisioned it to be. Switching from a historical fact finding .. to reading and constant googling for jargons .. to thinking of how to rewrite or re-present for layman reading is such a stressful and brain exhausting process.</li>
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<p>Then the actual writing part .. yes .. on hind sight .. it's easy to say I should have guessed and pre-empted the load of work. Now that the first article is out .. done .. though still a far cry from what I had intended it to be .. I'll just have to rethink the next time I plan to do the next article .. iteration .. the buzz word for the lean start-up community.</p>
<p>For the next article this is what I am going to do.</p>
<p>1) Break the article up. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Historical Background</strong><br>
This itself can be a interesting enough topic with a sense of "What you didn't know about this plant" line of thought</li>
<li><strong>Technical Scientific write up</strong><br>
Here I can go techie and write for a different group of audience</li>
<li><strong>Side Effects</strong><br>
Here I can do a click-bait style article .. like "10 things you never knew about ____"</li>
<li><strong>Practical usages</strong><br>
Here I can go beyond the medicinal/health aspect .. even to recipes .. trivials .. how to choose the right one when in supermarket .. etc</li>
<li><strong>A curation of instant content that can be inserted as citations</strong><br>
Ok .. this is a bit tricky here in Steem community .. not sure how acceptible it is from an etiquette point of view.</li>
</ul>
<p>2) Pre-write</p>
<p>I'll probably prewrite parts that fire me up .. that are easier .. that I feel the flow to go along .. not that I want the easy way out .. but it's more to get the momentum going .. to work the brain muscles .. and fingers as well .. and get better .. before I attempt the more difficult aspects.</p>
<p>In addition .. I can keep more drafts in my archive to be released later .. it also meant that I can have spare time to review .. edit .. enhance .. .. and also to do it in a more relaxed and conducive state of mind.</p>
<p>It is also a good way to practice the free-writing principle to get into the groove like somewhat I am doing with this writing.</p>
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<p>If you've read this far .. I'll really like to thank you for your patience. I've budgeted a 30min time frame to challenge myself with the free writing concept. I'm sorry if grammatically there are mistakes and sometimes seem incoherent.</p>
<h2>What I would really like now .. ..</h2>
<p>I would really like to hear from your personal experiences on how you plan and execute your article writings. Please comment below and let's start a conversation.<br>
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