The Secret Weapon of Blog Writing

 The Secret Weapon of Blog Writing That No One Will Tell You...
... but that you deserve to know!

Hello cherished Otherbeasts! I hope that the week is going quickly for you and that Friday will approach much faster than you dreamed!
 

I noticed a lot of people asking me, "What do you write your blog about?" My response is always, "Whatever I feel like!" But really, when I stopped to think about it I realized that it requires a bit more finesse than just whatever I want.

For instance, how do you keep people coming back to your blog? How do you keep a blog from becoming yet another online diary that people won't want to read because of its emotional dribble? Now, don't get me wrong, writing about your life and the potential drama can be a very powerful soap opera that may catch some of those viewers, but not everyone is a fan of soap operas. So, how do you cater to the masses?

Every single part of your blog has an effect on every single person who reads it based on its design and its content and everything in between the lines.

Was That Sarcasm?
Of course one of the most important things about writing a blog is that you be able to write in a manner that keeps people reading. It's all in how you choose to write - your writing style - that will keep people coming back or scare them away like a flock of pigeons. Your writing style is unique to you and it alone may be a reason for return viewers... one may be so lucky; usually it's what your blog is about that snags readers and keep them. Keep your writing style consistent.

How Interesting!

Interesting subjects, personable writing, and interactiveness are all good things to employ in your blog. If you continue to write about the same subject for every blog post then make it interesting! Of course, I recommend not writing about the same thing over and over (unless it's cooking because recipes always change) because if you exhaust the subject, it's kind of like watching reruns on syndicated television over again and it becomes, "The Department of Redundancy Department." This is important especially if you have dedicated readers, they're not going to want to read eleven different posts on the same, 'This is how great my gym is!' Yawn. Boring.

OMG, R U sur about this one? ROFL!
Second to that are very overlooked aspects on the matter of grammar, spelling, and punctuation - if you picked up a book at Barnes and Noble, opened it, and started reading and noticing things like, "And then he like said to me, "OMG, your so beutiful and I cant liv without U... R U okay with that?" I'd bet you might throw that book as far away from you as possible or drop it in revulsion. (Okay, you're right, the editor of the book would never allow it to be released in that condition of writing, but it plays a pretty mean example, eh?) Pay rigorous attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Be your own editor.

Be Passionate!
Writing individual blog posts becomes easier when you write about things that interest you, things you're passionate about. Speak openly and honestly about what you choose to write about. All posts should be interesting, dynamic, and they MUST be enjoyable to read. Did you ever finish a book you didn't enjoy? (Of your own volition, not necessarily a school assignment, we've all been there with the book report feeling.) Try to stay away from making your entries feel like a book report, you won't enjoy writing them and people certainly won't enjoy reading them.

Linking is lazy... Zzzzzzz...
Don't be lazy. And don't just list links either. If someone is bothering to read your blog then make it easy on them and type out what you want to talk about instead of linking sites. Your readers are there to garner information from one place, not to participate in an easter egg hunt in order to get to something interesting to read. Now, you can link once you're done talking about the subject just in case your readers want to visit the site you're talking about, but don't rely on your readers to follow your 'connect the dots' linking style. Provide an overview of the link, discuss it, share your opinion and point of view. It's sad, but making people do their own work won't keep readers, it will cause them to find another source for all-in-one information.

Respect Copyrights!
Never make enemies out of the internet. If your blog contains information you acquired through another site, then that site deserves credit by having you link back to the origin of information. Things like violating copyrights, plagiarism, or content stealing are ill advised. One, it risks your blog, two, makes you look bad/lazy, and three, is disrespectful to the original source that provided the information. Always provide citations (you can leave out the bibliography.)

Less is More.
Attention spans are short these days and looking at a page full of text heavy writing may turn some people off from the first glance... they may just leave right there and not even read! How rude! Keep your paragraphs at 4 to 5 sentences tops. Remember to space them out and it can never hurt to link a funny picture for visual interest.

The Secret Weapon:

Not everyone is going to give you the secret to writing a blog because they don't want to give away their own Ace in the hole, but I'll give you that secret: write about potentially controversial subject matter, and that article will spread like wildfire. Also, write about something that's in demand or highly searched and DON'T be afraid to express your opinion on it.

Now why would I give away the secret weapon? What's in it for me? Absolutely nothing. I'm giving it away because most people aren't going to employ everything I've talked about. Certain bloggers believe that their important life events are important to other people as well, and that all they have to do it write about it and people will read. 'If you write it, they will read it.' Wrong. The only instance in where this works is if you're a celebrity, people will read whatever you write. So you're not a celebrity? Then a stalker may read it. You don't have a stalker? Then lucky for you because you can write about anything you like so long as people find it interesting.

Have fun my darling Otherbeasts!

Until Next Time,
<3 Shade

Here are some other sources on blog writing:

• 5 Tips to Write Blog Posts
• How to Write a Blog People Want to Read
• Overview of a Blog Post