Writing stuff people actually care about is what we authors do. Right?
Trouble is, that’s sometimes incredibly difficult. Here are 5 specific steps to blogging that make targeting our messages considerably easier than crafting 50,000- or 100,000-word books.
- Test. Blogs let you discover what kind of content your public wants to read. What makes them subscribe to your blog, eagerly searching their email or RSS notifications for the latest wisdom from your keyboard? Write a few blogs and watch the “views per day” statistics. This same blog you’re now reading sees varying highs and lows among our stats which we can only attribute to “riviting” content versus “boring” content.
- Personalize. Who are you to your readers, whether via your books or your blog? Most of us want to know who is the person behind the words, as much as we want to know what the words contribute. Blogs let you do that with freedom. Today you can rant and rave, tomorrow you can wisely opine, another day you can merely report. And again, your “views per day” statistics will tell you who your readers prefer you to be.
- Crunch. Your book gives you opportunity to expand your thoughts, to share freely and widely, to explore emotions as well as ideas. Blogs, on the other hand, are most appreciated when they’re short, snappy and brief. Often, coalescing our brilliance into fewer and fewer words is painful, but nearly all editors will agree that powerful writing is generally less rather than more.
- Vary. While readers typically follow you because of the specific focus of your blog, they also appreciate variety in what you write. Explore your focus thoroughly, while doing so with variety and interest. Some days post long blogs, other days post short ones. Your readers will appreciate you all the more.
- Repeat. It’s likely your blog has a central theme and it’s likely you’ll repeat yourself over time. Our writing instructors emphasize the need for generous vocabularies, but even the most skillful writer will repeat him or herself. In blogging, that’s not all bad. In short, punchy blog posts, repetition is how you’ll get across your most important points. Yes, you’ll want fresh angles, musical metaphors, and new ways of presenting, but don’t hesitate to reiterate.
