Find the story hiding inside the subject.

“I drove through the Peak District” is a subject. “The cold night I discovered whether my campervan could really live off-grid” is a story. The second promises tension, detail and an answer.

Before I write anything, I ask myself three questions: What happened? Why should anybody care? What will they learn or feel? If I can't answer those, I haven't found the story yet.

Give people a reason to stop scrolling.

A headline should set a clear expectation without overselling the story. Specifics beat vague adjectives almost every time.

My favourite headline ingredients are a specific location, an unexpected detail, a question, or a little bit of jeopardy. Not all four at once — this isn't a motorway services meal deal.

Start where the interesting bit starts.

Don't clear your throat for six paragraphs. Put the reader in the scene. Give them weather, sound, sensation, a decision — anything that makes them want the next sentence.

A story needs a road to follow.

I like a blog that moves forwards. The reader should never be wondering where the point has gone.

For a gear review, this becomes why I wanted it → real-world test → what impressed me → what annoyed me → verdict. For a pub review, it's arrival → setting → food → service → value → would I return?

Don't decorate the blog. Photograph the story.

I think a good article should have a visual rhythm: one strong opening photograph, two or three moments from the journey, a close-up of something revealing, and a final image that leaves a little atmosphere behind.

My photo rules: straighten the horizon, remove duplicates, keep skin and skies natural, and give every image a useful caption. Use large landscape images where they add something. Include alt text so the story remains accessible. Compress photographs for speed, but not until they look like they came off a 2003 camera phone.

Illustrative photographs in this tutorial are loaded from Unsplash and require an internet connection. Replace them with your own Flickr or camera images for a truly personal NIX story.

Make the reader hear and feel the place.

A 20-second clip of rain on Vanilla's roof may communicate more than an entire paragraph. Film the engine starting, the sound of a pub at lunchtime, a drone pull-back or the view through a campsite door. Short clips work best when they prove or enhance something you've just described.

For a blog, I would typically include one short introduction clip, one scene-setting sequence and — only where useful — a quick explanation or demonstration. Every video should have a meaningful title and a written takeaway for people who can't or don't want to press play.

Sound like a human being, not a brochure.

Readers can get bland facts from anywhere. Your distinctive point of view is what keeps them. Write how you would tell the story to someone over a good pint. Then edit out the rambling.

Tell the truth about disappointments. If the lunch was average, say so fairly. If the heater ran out of power, show the numbers. If you took the wrong turning, that might be the best part of the whole piece.

Give the reader something to take away.

The strongest blogs do two jobs: they tell a cracking story and help someone. A campervan post might include battery figures and temperatures. A road-trip piece might include the route and sensible stopovers. A cooking article should include ingredient weights and actual timings.

The first draft is you telling yourself the story.

The edit is when you start telling it to everybody else. Read it aloud on your MacBook. If a sentence makes you run out of breath, shorten it. If two paragraphs repeat the same point, cut one. If a photograph adds nothing, choose a better one.

• Cut throat-clearing: begin with the moment, not “In today's blog…”
• Use subheadings: make a long article easy to navigate.
• Check names, dates, figures and locations: accuracy builds trust.
• Make text readable: normal paragraph sizes, plenty of contrast and no squeezed columns.
• Think mobile: preview on a phone even if you write on a MacBook.
• Keep photos reliable: hosted media must actually load after publishing.
• Never make up an experience: separate real events from illustrative examples.

My 45-minute blog-writing framework.

Not every post needs to be enormous. A simple article can be brilliant when it has a clear angle, five good photographs and a memorable ending. Here's a working framework, not a stopwatch challenge:

For a serious deep-dive, take longer. The point isn't speed. It's having a process that stops you staring at a blank page.

Is your story actually ready?

Tick these off before you press publish. The progress bar works in a browser; some publisher previews may disable scripts.

Write the sort of article you'd enjoy finding.

For me, that's what NIXDRONES.COM should be. Not just an online album, not just a list of places and not a showroom for technology. It's a collection of moments, lessons, roads, photographs and occasionally things that went spectacularly wrong.

And that's the wonderful thing about blogging. You don't need to have climbed Everest or driven across a continent to write a memorable story. Sometimes all it takes is an old village pub, a conversation, a wrong turning or the first cup of tea after a cold night in the van.

That's how I'd write a brilliant blog.

— NIX