Blog Post Rubric

Based on the latest 20 .qmd posts in posts/, reviewed in reverse date order from 2026-06-01 back to 2024-08-07.

What Is Consistent In Recent Posts

Writing style

  • First-person, practitioner-led writing.
  • Concrete examples beat abstract claims.
  • Posts usually move from lived experience or a real experiment to a broader lesson.
  • The strongest posts explain what happened, what worked, what failed, and what it means.
  • Questions are used well to surface uncertainty and invite reflection.

Tone

  • Candid, informal, and self-aware.
  • Pragmatically optimistic rather than hyped.
  • Empathetic toward colleagues, patients, and teams.
  • Comfortable naming friction, bureaucracy, or limits without becoming cynical.
  • Human and slightly conversational, but still useful to practitioners.

Structure

  • Openings often start with a real moment, a practical problem, or a short state-of-play.
  • Middle sections tend to combine evidence, reflection, and practical detail.
  • Endings usually land on a lesson, a next step, a question, or a cautious conclusion.
  • Headings and lists are common, especially in experiment posts and notes.

Length patterns

  • Weeknotes: usually 400-700 words.
  • Monthnotes: usually 850-1,200 words, with some longer reflective pieces up to about 1,800 words.
  • Deep-dive experiment posts: usually 1,300-2,200 words.
  • Very long posts above 2,500 words need stronger editing and signposting.

Reader Needs This Writing Serves

  • Learn from real experiments, not polished case studies.
  • Understand how tools, research, and service design work in practice.
  • See system friction named clearly and honestly.
  • Get useful framing for healthcare, digital, and research problems.
  • Feel solidarity with someone working inside similar constraints.
  • Leave with either a practical takeaway, a sharper question, or a clearer point of view.

Consistency Risks To Watch

  • Publishing rough notes before they are cleaned up.
  • Letting tool detail bury the actual story.
  • Drifting too far into diary mode without transferable insight.
  • Drifting too far into memo mode without the human perspective.
  • Assuming too much insider context or acronym knowledge.
  • Ending weakly after a strong middle.

Future Post Rubric

Score each category from 1 to 5.

  • 1 = weak or missing
  • 3 = acceptable but uneven
  • 5 = strong and clearly aligned with the recent body of work

Target score:

  • 28-35: strongly aligned with the current blog voice
  • 21-27: usable, but needs revision before publishing
  • 20 or below: likely off-style, unfocused, or under-edited

1. Real-world anchor

Does the post start from something real?

  • A real event, workflow, experiment, service interaction, tension, or observation.
  • The reader can tell why this post exists within the first few paragraphs.
  • The opening avoids generic scene-setting or abstract throat-clearing.

2. Practical specificity

Does the post stay concrete enough to be useful?

  • Names the relevant tools, settings, roles, services, artefacts, or constraints.
  • Includes examples, not just opinions.
  • Gives enough detail that a practitioner can learn from it.
  • Avoids becoming a vague opinion piece.

3. Reflection and meaning

Does the post go beyond reporting what happened?

  • Interprets the experience.
  • Pulls out lessons, tensions, or implications.
  • Connects the local example to a wider system, team, patient, or profession-level point.
  • Avoids reading like a raw log dump.

4. Tone fit

Does the tone sound like the rest of the blog?

  • Honest and human.
  • Informal in a controlled way.
  • Critical where needed, but not cynical or performative.
  • Curious, grounded, and self-aware.
  • Avoids hype, jargon-heavy posturing, or polished corporate language.

5. Reader value

Does the post clearly serve the reader?

  • Offers a reusable lesson, framing, prompt, caution, or perspective.
  • Makes the reader better informed, less alone, or better equipped.
  • Balances personal context with transferable value.
  • Avoids becoming only a personal update with no broader relevance.

6. Structure and flow

Is the post easy to follow?

  • Clear opening, middle, and ending.
  • Headings or section breaks used when they help.
  • Long sections are broken up.
  • The post has a visible spine: problem, experiment, reflection, lesson, or next step.
  • Avoids drift, repetition, or pasted-in material that has not been integrated.

7. Editing and polish

Is the post finished enough to publish?

  • No duplicated sections.
  • No stray notes, chat fragments, or placeholder text.
  • Typos do not distract from the argument.
  • Lists, headings, and screenshots feel intentional rather than dumped in.
  • The ending feels deliberate.

Quick Pre-Publish Checklist

  • Can a reader tell what this post is about in the opening?
  • Is there at least one concrete example or lived detail?
  • Have I explained why this matters beyond me?
  • Have I kept the useful detail and cut the surplus detail?
  • Have I named uncertainty, risk, or friction honestly?
  • Does the ending leave the reader with a lesson, question, or next step?
  • Have I removed duplicate text, rough notes, or unfinished fragments?

Suggested Templates By Post Type

Weeknote

  • Aim for 400-700 words.
  • Use short sections or bullets.
  • Include one clear reflection, not just activity reporting.

Monthnote

  • Aim for 850-1,200 words.
  • Mix personal and professional updates, but make the thread explicit.
  • Include one or two stronger takeaways rather than many light mentions.

Experiment or deep dive

  • Aim for 1,300-2,200 words.
  • Use signposting: what I tried, what worked, what failed, what I learned, what next.
  • Cut background detail unless it helps the reader understand the decision or outcome.

Strategy or opinion piece

  • Aim for 1,000-1,700 words.
  • Ground the argument in direct experience or evidence.
  • Keep the voice practical, not manifesto-only.

Best-fit Formula

The most consistent shape across the strongest posts is:

  1. Start from something real.
  2. Describe it concretely.
  3. Admit friction or uncertainty.
  4. Zoom out to the wider lesson.
  5. End with a useful takeaway, open question, or next step.