Blog Writing Guide (Prof. Ibrahim Malek)

Read this before writing or editing any blog post in this folder. Every new post must follow these rules. The aim is a post that reads exactly like the ones already in content/blog/: written by a real surgeon, in plain human language, with no signs it was generated by AI.

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1. Whose voice this is

Every post is written by Prof. Ibrahim Malek, in the first person ("I", "my patients", "in my clinic"), speaking directly to a worried patient ("you"). He is warm, honest, unhurried, and never salesy. He explains things the way a good consultant explains them across the desk: clearly, without jargon, and without overpromising.

Match the tone of the existing posts, especially managing-hip-arthritis-without-surgery.md, partial-vs-total-knee-replacement.md and arthrosamid-knee-injection-alternative-to-surgery.md. Study one before you write.

Do sound like this:

• "Not every patient who walks into my clinic with hip arthritis needs a hip replacement."
• "I want to be honest about this, because most patients appreciate honesty more than tact."
• "The honest limitations: the relief is usually temporary."

Do not sound like this:

• "In today's fast-paced world, joint pain can be a real challenge." (empty AI opener)
• "Unlock the secret to a pain-free life!" (marketing hype)
• "It is important to note that..." / "In conclusion..." (AI filler phrases)

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2. The dash rule (most important)

The clearest sign of AI writing in this niche is the em-dash (—) and en-dash (–) used as a pause or aside. Do not use them anywhere. Not in the title, description, body, or frontmatter.

But do not simply delete the dash. Deleting it leaves broken sentences. An earlier post has this exact problem: "...the decision to have surgery what can be done in that window..." That reads as if a word is missing, because a dash was removed without repairing the sentence.

Instead, rewrite the sentence so it flows without any dash, using a comma, a full stop, "and", "which", brackets, or a colon.

| Instead of (AI style) | Write (human style) | |---|---| | "the space between diagnosis and surgery — what can be done" | "the space between diagnosis and surgery, and what can be done in it" | | "conservative care is enough — often for years" | "conservative care is often enough for years." | | "Spire Yale Hospital — 01978 268065" | "Spire Yale Hospital, 01978 268065" |

Allowed and normal, do not remove these:

• Ordinary hyphens in compound words: non-surgical, low-impact, well-prepared, end-stage, X-ray, day-case, five-to-ten.
• The - bullet marker in Markdown lists.

Before saving, search the draft for — and – and remove every one by rewriting.

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2b. The colon rule

Do not use a colon in the middle of a sentence as a pause or to introduce an aside, in the same way you would wrongly use a dash. It reads as machine-written.

• Wrong: "What takes time is everything around it: the muscles, the soft tissues, and the confidence."
• Right: "What takes time is everything around it, the muscles, the soft tissues, and the confidence."
• Wrong: "The goal is little and often: short walks, then longer ones."
• Right: "The goal is little and often, starting with short walks, then longer ones."

Colons that are fine to keep:

• In a heading ("Golf: Worth the Patience").
• Immediately before a bullet list ("A few things make a real difference here:"). This is the standard, correct use.

Rewrite any other colon into a comma or a full stop so the sentence flows. Ordinary hyphens in compound words stay (see rule 2).

3. Other AI tells to avoid

• No "In today's world", "In conclusion", "It is important to note", "Let's dive in", "When it comes to".
• No rule-of-three everywhere ("faster, safer, and stronger"). Vary sentence shape.
• No exclamation marks. No emoji.
• Do not start with a dictionary definition or a generic scene-setter. Open with a real clinical observation, the way the existing posts do.
• Avoid over-perfect symmetry. Real writing has short sentences next to long ones.
• Keep claims honest and qualified. Never guarantee outcomes ("pain-free", "100% success"). Say "most patients", "often", "in my experience".

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4. Location

Keep location light. These posts are about medicine, not geography.

• Mention a place once at most, naturally, usually only in the closing call to action.
• Do not repeat "North Wales / Wrexham / Birmingham / Chester / Midlands" through the body.
• Do not stuff locations into the SEO keyword list. One or two geo keywords is plenty; the rest should be about the condition and treatment.

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5. Structure

1. Opening (2 short paragraphs). A real observation from clinic that frames the patient's question. No preamble.
2. ## H2 sections, each answering one part of the question. Use clear, human headings ("Weight Management: The Less Comfortable Conversation"), not keyword strings.
3. Bullet lists where they help, with a bold lead-in then plain explanation. Keep them occasional, not every section.
4. A "What I Tell My Patients" style closing section that summarises the honest bottom line.
5. A soft call to action linking to /contact.
6. One or two internal links to a related blog post (/blog/...) and/or a treatment page (/treatments/...).
7. A short italic disclaimer as the final line (copy the wording from an existing post).

Length: roughly 1,200 to 1,800 words (6 to 9 min read). Long enough to be genuinely useful, never padded.

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6. Frontmatter template

Copy this block, fill it in, and change the date to today (see rule 7). Keep it dash-free.

---
title: "Plain, human title that answers a real question"
slug: "kebab-case-slug-matching-the-filename"
date: "YYYY-MM-DD"            # TODAY. See rule 7.
author: "Prof. Ibrahim Malek"
description: "One or two sentences in Prof. Malek's voice. No dashes. Describes what the reader will learn."
image: "/images/blog/kebab-case-slug-matching-the-filename.jpg"
featured: true                # See rule 8.
category: "treatment"         # treatment | symptoms | technology | recovery
readTime: "7 min read"
seo:
  keywords: ["condition keyword", "treatment keyword", "patient-question keyword", "one geo keyword"]
  metaTitle: "Human Title | Prof. Malek"
  metaDescription: "One sentence, no dashes, under 160 characters."
---

The filename must equal the slug plus .md (for example partial-vs-total-knee-replacement.md).

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7. Date rule (do not skip)

date: must be today's actual date. Never copy the date from a template or from an existing post. Backdating breaks the ordering on the site (posts sort newest first) and once pushed a blog live in the wrong order. If you are unsure of today's date, ask or check, do not guess a plausible one.

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8. Getting a post to the top of "Featured"

The site shows featured posts like this: it takes every post with featured: true, sorts them newest date first, and shows the top few. So to put a new post at the top of the featured list you need both:

1. featured: true in the frontmatter, and
2. today's date (rule 7), which will be newer than every existing post.

Do both and the new post leads the featured section automatically. There is nothing else to configure.

Optional housekeeping: the homepage shows only the first three featured posts. If the featured set is getting crowded, set featured: false on an older post so the curated set stays tight.

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9. Blog image: prompt, size, and where it goes

Every post needs one hero image.

Filename: same as the slug, .jpg. Example: partial-vs-total-knee-replacement.jpg Save it to: public/images/blog/ Reference it in frontmatter as: /images/blog/<slug>.jpg Dimensions: 1200 x 630 px (landscape, works as thumbnail and social preview)

Image generation prompt template (paste into DALL-E, ChatGPT, or similar, filling in the scene):

Photorealistic editorial photograph for a medical blog titled "[BLOG TITLE]". [SCENE: a warm, real, relevant clinical or lifestyle moment, for example "a patient in their early 60s walking confidently in a bright modern hospital corridor beside a friendly physiotherapist"]. Bright soft natural light from large windows, clean modern UK private hospital or clinic aesthetic, warm and reassuring mood, shallow depth of field, professional medical photography, realistic skin and materials. No text, no logos, no watermarks, no brand names, no on-screen writing. Landscape composition, 1200 x 630 pixels.

House style for all blog images (keep it consistent with the existing set in public/images/blog/): photorealistic, clean clinical or gentle lifestyle setting, warm and reassuring, bright soft lighting, no text or logos, UK hospital aesthetic. Avoid anything graphic (no wounds, no surgical incisions, no blood).

After generating, record the prompt and filename in BLOG-IMAGE-PROMPTS.md at the repo root so the set stays documented.

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10. Preview on localhost before publishing (required)

Never commit or push a new post straight to live. After the content and frontmatter are written:

1. Start the dev server if it is not already running: npm run dev.
2. Open the post in the browser at http://localhost:3000/blog/<slug> and check the homepage / blog listing too, so you can confirm it appears at the top of the featured section.
3. Show the localhost link to the user for review. Point out anything worth checking (voice, the image if it has been added, links).
4. Wait for the user's explicit approval. Do not proceed on your own judgement.
5. Only once the user approves, commit and push (which merges to main and deploys live). If the hero image is not ready yet, agree with the user whether to publish now or wait for it.

11. Pre-publish checklist

• [ ] Written in Prof. Malek's first-person, honest, human voice.
• [ ] No em-dashes or en-dashes anywhere; sentences rewritten to flow, not just stripped.
• [ ] No AI filler phrases, no emoji, no exclamation marks, no outcome guarantees.
• [ ] Location kept light (one natural mention at most; not stuffed in keywords).
• [ ] date: is today.
• [ ] featured: true if it should lead the featured section.
• [ ] image: points to /images/blog/<slug>.jpg, and the 1200x630 file is saved in public/images/blog/.
• [ ] One or two internal links to a related blog and/or treatment page.
• [ ] Italic disclaimer as the final line.
• [ ] Filename equals the slug.
• [ ] Previewed on http://localhost:3000/blog/<slug> and approved by the user before any commit or push.