How I Write Weekly Senior Sexuality 101 Blog Posts

How do I produce a new blog post every week for Senior Sexuality 101? After doing this now for a few months, I have a process I’ve worked out that I follow each week.

At first, it took me all week to select a topic, write and edit a post, and get it scheduled for publication on Sunday morning. Now I could complete the process in one day.

Choosing a Topic

Writing a post begins with deciding what topic I’m going to write about. I don’t sit down to a blank computer screen until I know what I’m writing about. Ideally, I’ve made that decision several days before I write. It’s best if I have time to do some research and let it simmer in my subconscious and make connections and organize itself.

I use a computer application called MindNode to draft mind maps for planning most blog articles I write. A mind map is a visual representation of thinking in which you can capture and organize your thoughts. It’s not like a traditional outline where there is a vertical, linear hierarchy of topics, but rather a flowing chart of ideas and subtopics. The main ideas and sub-points can be easily moved around and modified as your thinking clarifies.

Several weeks ago, I prepared a mind map of topics for Senior Sexuality 101 blog topics. I used an approach suggested by Sean McCabe for creating months of topics in advance. I started by asking, who is my audience? What do they want to achieve? What is their first step to getting that? What are the additional steps they need to take?

My audience is elders who want to enjoy a more satisfying, pleasurable, and healthy sex life. For them to achieve that, they need to be aware of their current sexuality practices, and what they might want to change. Next, they need education about all the different aspects of sexuality, including pre-sex topics such as dating, attraction, consent, self-pleasuring, and how to restart sex if there’s been a long break.

Sexual foreplay involves topics like kissing, touching, using fingers, oral sex, orgasm, hygiene, safer sex, and lubricants. Sexual intercourse topics include positions and possible locations. Enhancements to sex include using sex toys, anal play, role-playing, bondage, etc. Issues and limitations include erection problems, vaginal dryness, loss of stamina, medical problems, physical restrictions, and drug side effects.

I often choose a topic from my master list in the order in which it is organized. On the other hand, if there is a topic I have an interest in or have read an interesting article about recently, or think I should write on earlier, I’ll write it out of order. It’s a very subjective process for me. Sometimes I think of a new topic and decide to write about that. For instance, I got in the shower with my wife the other morning, and that sparked an upcoming article about sex in the shower.

My Process for Writing

After I’ve decided what my topic will be, I research it online and from relevant books. My goal is to learn more about the topic and find resources I think would benefit my readers.

As I research, I revise my mind map and add material, including quotes, I’ve found when doing my research. I add links to any articles or books I cite so readers can easily link to them.

Once I’m comfortable with my outline of thoughts, I open my writing application, Ulysses, on my computer. I write a first draft of the post, following the outline in my mind map. After an initial computer-assisted edit (primarily making spelling and grammatical corrections), I send a copy to my wife, Lanette. She notes any mistakes and makes suggestions to improve the article. She also adds her perspective and often suggests additional material.

After I complete several edits and revisions, I upload the post to my WordPress website editor. I schedule when it will be published, add a description, an excerpt, and a featured photo, and make final edits. I check to make sure the hyperlinks are correct and preview the post to make sure there are no formatting issues. Unless I intervene, the post will automatically publish on the date and time that I have scheduled.

Writing Every Week

My commitment is to publish a new post once a week on Sunday mornings. To make that happen, I am in the process of building up a reserve of at least one month of completed posts. That way, even if life intervenes with unexpected time commitments one week and I can’t write a new post, I’ll still have a blog post ready to publish.

When I first started writing blog posts, getting just one post done was a major undertaking for me. With practice, and developing a writing process, it has now become a fairly simple process. Now I can write a post in one morning. I precede that by making a mind map of my thoughts and follow with revisions in editing. I’ve found it works best if I spread this process over a few days to allow my unconscious mind to work on the article.

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As a gift for subscribing to our free newsletter, I’d like to give you access to our new guide, “7-Step Checklist for Great Senior Sex.”

I’ll send you the latest blog article each week so you don’t miss out and don’t have to remember to go to the website every Sunday. You’ll receive a down-to-earth article that I have written, designed to help you have an active, enjoyable sex life. When you subscribe, you will also have an opportunity to tell me what you struggle with in senior sexuality, and I will write to address your issue.