Managing Blog Ideas

Create and evolve blog post ideas from initial concept to publication-ready draft.

Location

All blog ideas live in content/blog-ideas/ and are excluded from Nuxt Content publishing.

Mode Detection

•List mode: User asks "what blog ideas" or "list blog ideas" → list all files in content/blog-ideas/
•Update mode: User provides slug/title that exists → load and update
•Create mode: New topic → create fresh blog idea

CREATE Mode

Phase 1: Gather Information

•

If topic not provided, ask:

yaml

question: "What topic would you like to write about?"
header: "Blog Topic"

•

Search Second Brain for related notes:

text

Grep pattern: "{topic keywords}" glob: "content/*.md"

•
Present found connections to user

Phase 2: Generate Blog Idea

Frontmatter:

yaml

---
title: "Working Title"
status: idea
tags:
  - tag-1
  - tag-2
core_idea: "Single sentence thesis"
target_audience: "Vue/Nuxt developers who..."
reader_outcome: "After reading, they will [think/feel/do X]"
created: {today YYYY-MM-DD}
updated: {today YYYY-MM-DD}
---

Body structure:

•Core Idea section (1-2 sentences)
•Outline with 3-5 sections (H3 headers with bullet points)
•Source Notes (wiki-links to related Second Brain notes)
•Open Questions (what needs research/clarification)

Phase 3: User Review

Present the generated content and ask:

yaml

question: "Does this blog idea look good?"
header: "Review"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "Save"
    description: "Create the blog idea file"
  - label: "Edit"
    description: "Tell me what to change"

Phase 4: Save

Generate slug: lowercase title, spaces to hyphens, remove special characters. Save to content/blog-ideas/{slug}.md.

Confirm creation with file path and summary.

UPDATE Mode

Phase 1: Load Existing

•
Find the file:
text
```
Glob: content/blog-ideas/{slug}*.md
```
•
Read and display current state:
- •Status
- •Last updated
- •Current outline structure
- •Source notes count

Phase 2: Choose Update Action

yaml

question: "What would you like to do with this blog idea?"
header: "Update"
multiSelect: false
options:
  - label: "Expand outline"
    description: "Add more sections or detail to existing sections"
  - label: "Draft a section"
    description: "Write content for one of the outline sections"
  - label: "Polish & Edit"
    description: "Cut filler, tighten prose, improve skimmability"
  - label: "Find sources"
    description: "Search Second Brain for more related notes"
  - label: "Update status"
    description: "Move to next stage (idea → outline → draft → ready)"
  - label: "Refine core idea"
    description: "Sharpen the thesis or angle"
  - label: "Prep for distribution"
    description: "Create teaser, thread points, and pull quotes"

Phase 3: Execute Update

Expand outline:

•Read current sections
•Ask which section to expand OR add new section
•Generate additional bullet points / subsections

Draft a section:

•Present section titles
•User picks one
•Generate draft prose following writing-style skill (especially Alexander's Voice Profile)
•Insert under ## Draft Sections

Polish & Edit:

•Review draft sections for filler and bloat
•
Apply the Ruthless Editing Checklist:
- •Cut 20-30% of word count
- •Remove filler phrases: "very", "really", "just", "actually", "in order to", "basically", "essentially"
- •Replace "in terms of" with direct language
- •Cut redundant qualifiers ("completely unique" → "unique")
- •Delete weak sentence starters ("I think that", "It seems like", "In my opinion")
•Improve skimmability (see Skimmability Guidelines)
•Suggest reading the draft aloud to catch awkward phrasing

Find sources:

•Extract keywords from title/outline
•Search Second Brain
•Present candidates
•Add selected links to Source Notes

Update status:

•Validate readiness for next stage
•Update frontmatter status field

Refine core idea:

•Present current core_idea
•Discuss with user
•Update frontmatter

Prep for distribution:

•Generate teaser hook (2-3 sentences to post before publishing)
•Extract 3-5 thread points (key insights as standalone posts)
•Identify 2-3 pull quote candidates (shareable insights)
•Add to ## Distribution section

Phase 4: Save

•Apply edits
•Update updated date
•Confirm changes

Status Definitions

Status	Criteria	Next Step
`idea`	Has title and basic core_idea	Develop outline
`outline`	3+ sections with bullet points	Draft sections
`draft`	At least one section has prose	Complete all sections
`ready`	All sections drafted, reviewed	Publish to blog

Blog Idea Template

markdown

---
title: "[Action Verb] + [Specific Outcome] + [Context/Tool]"
status: idea
tags:
  - topic-1
core_idea: "Single sentence thesis"
target_audience: "Vue/Nuxt developers who..."
reader_outcome: "After reading, they will [think/feel/do X]"
created: YYYY-MM-DD
updated: YYYY-MM-DD
---

## Core Idea

[1-2 sentences: What's the main argument? What will readers take away?]

## Outline

### 1. [Hook: Problem Statement or Observation]
- Open with pain point or personal observation
- First person welcome
- Never "In this post, we will..."

### 2. The Problem
- Concrete example of the pain point
- Real scenario, specific details

### 3. The Solution
- High-level approach
- Why this works

### 4. [Implementation Step]
- Code + explanation
- Before/after with ❌/✅ if applicable

### 5. When to Use This
- Specific scenarios where this applies

### 6. When NOT to Use This
- Honest assessment of limitations
- Alternative approaches

### 7. Conclusion
- Key insight (1-2 sentences)
- Ask a question to spark discussion
- Clear call-to-action
- Optional: related content links

## Source Notes

[Wiki-links to Second Brain notes that inform this post]

- [[note-slug]] - How this informs the post

## Draft Sections

[Write draft content following the Drafting Guidelines below]

## Distribution

[Prepare content for social promotion]

### Teaser Hook
[2-3 sentences to post before/when publishing - create curiosity]

### Thread Points
[Key insights as standalone posts for social threads]
1.
2.
3.

### Pull Quotes
[Shareable insights that stand alone]
-

## Open Questions

- Question I need to answer before writing
- Research needed

Title Formula

Good titles combine curiosity + value promise. The reader should know what they'll learn AND be intrigued enough to click.

Formula

code

[Action Verb] + [Specific Outcome] + [Context/Tool]

Examples

Bad titles:

•"Vue Reactivity" (too vague)
•"How I Use Composables" (no clear benefit)
•"Some Thoughts on Testing" (weak, unclear)

Good titles:

•"Stop Fighting Vue Reactivity: The Mental Model That Finally Clicked"
•"3 Composable Patterns That Eliminated 500 Lines of Duplicate Code"
•"Why Your E2E Tests Are Slow (And the 80/20 Fix)"

Checklist

• Would I click this in a busy feed?
• Does it promise a specific outcome?
• Does it create curiosity?
• Is it honest about what the post delivers?

Skimmability Guidelines

Most readers skim before committing to read. Make your post scannable.

Paragraph Rules

•2-4 lines max per paragraph (phone screens are narrow)
•One idea per paragraph
•If a paragraph has two ideas, split it

Subheading Rules

•Add subheading every 3-5 paragraphs
•Subheadings should be informative, not clever ("The Fix" not "Plot Twist")
•Reader should understand the post from subheadings alone

Emphasis Rules

•Bold the key insight in each major section (one per section)
•Use bold for emphasis, not ALL CAPS or italics
•Don't over-bold; if everything is bold, nothing is

Visual Breaks

•Use bullet lists for 3+ related items
•Add code blocks, diagrams, or callouts to break up text walls
•Empty lines between sections

Ruthless Editing Checklist

Apply when polishing drafts:

Filler Phrases to Cut

•"very", "really", "just", "actually"
•"in order to" → "to"
•"basically", "essentially", "fundamentally"
•"in terms of" → rephrase directly
•"the fact that" → cut entirely
•"I think that", "I believe that" → just state it

Redundancies to Remove

•"completely unique" → "unique"
•"absolutely essential" → "essential"
•"past experience" → "experience"
•"end result" → "result"

Target

•Cut 20-30% of first draft word count
•If you can remove a word without losing meaning, remove it

The Read-Aloud Test

•Read the draft aloud
•Mark where you stumble or run out of breath
•Those spots need shorter sentences or clearer phrasing

Quality Checklist

Before saving:

• Title is specific and compelling (Action Verb + Outcome + Context)
• Title creates curiosity AND promises value
• Core idea is a clear thesis (assertion, not description)
• reader_outcome explicitly states what they'll gain
• At least 3 outline sections
• At least 2 wiki-links to source notes
• Tags match existing taxonomy
• Status accurately reflects completeness

For drafts, also check:

Validation

Wiki-link check: Each [[link]] should exist in content/.

Status progression:

•Don't advance to outline without 3+ sections
•Don't advance to draft without prose content
•Don't advance to ready without all sections drafted

Drafting Guidelines

When generating draft content, apply Alexander's voice from writing-style skill:

Opening Paragraphs

Write openings that:

•Start with a problem or observation, not "In this post, we will..."
•Use first-person when sharing experience
•Hook with a relatable developer struggle

Example openers:

•"I once worked on a project that wanted to..." (personal anecdote)
•"After [event], I started thinking about..." (observation)
•"Manual [task] gets old fast." (pain point)
•"Here's the thing: [unexpected insight]" (hook)

Body Structure Pattern

For each major section:

•State the problem this section solves
•Show before/after with ❌/✅ where appropriate
•Provide working code with inline comments
•Acknowledge limitations or when this doesn't apply

Code Examples

•Include realistic context (real file names, plausible data)
•Add comments explaining the "why", not just the "what"
•Show progressive refinement when teaching patterns

Visual Elements to Include

• At least one Mermaid diagram for complex flows
• Comparison table if presenting multiple options
• File tree for architectural posts
• Callout boxes for tips and warnings

Conclusion Pattern

End with:

•Brief summary of key insight (1-2 sentences)
•Honest assessment of trade-offs
•Ask a question to spark discussion (e.g., "What patterns have you found for X?")
•Clear call-to-action (try it, share feedback, etc.)
•Optional: Link to related posts or resources