8 Tips For Writing You Should Know Before Blogging
Starting a blog in this day and age is extremely simple and making it one which looks nice and can attract readers is similarly much simpler nowadays. Blogs can be a great opportunity for anyone who has the desire to write about issues that they feel strongly about, whether that be politics, movies or just some thoughts about their own life. Whatever you write about, it’s important that you remember that you’re on the internet, a place where, without you even intending it, you could all of a sudden find yourself with lots of people watching you. Knowing how to write well is just about the only important thing you need for blogging, but it is definitely worth considering in greater detail than you might be tempted. So let’s look at 8 things you should consider before you start blogging.
1. Be Concise
Blogs feel very personal, which is one of the really nice things about them and can help you to write with a much more genuine tone than if you were writing in a newspaper, for example. However, one thing that the personal feel can cause is a tendency for you to write too freely, blithering on about something for too long because you have no reason to stop. Concision makes for readability, whereas going on and on can cause people to lose interest. Try and trim the fat!
2. Consistency Is Key
You have a burst of energy and start a blog one day. You write the first 4 posts in quick succession… then you get distracted. “It’s something I come across all the time: writers who are inspired to blog one minute and completely unenthused in the next. You have to remain consistent to build an audience”, says Marlene Stokes, lifestyle blogger at 1 Day 2 Write and Write My X. It takes dedication to build something of value, and that’s what you need to show here.
3. Write About What You Love
Connected to the point above, writing a blog about something you feel you ought to write about can be a very painful experience. “You should be writing about what inspires and excites you. That way, you give yourself the best chance of writing in a way that excites and inspires others”, says Paul Shaw, tech writer at Brit Student and Next Coursework. Take time to figure out what it is that will really inspire you.
4. Don’t Overuse Keywords
Blogs that seem like they are fighting for attention are difficult to read without feeling a bit annoyed at the writer. Keywords indicate this to the extent that almost nothing else does. Overusing keywords makes you seem desperate and it throws off the flow of your prose.
5. Write Well From A Technical Perspective
When you go on someone’s blog, the last thing you want to encounter is sloppily written content, with spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes. It’s easy to avoid these problems and you should be able to even without an outside tool if you take yourself seriously. If in doubt though, look for exterior help.
6. Write Accurately
With this point, I am referring more to the actual content of your work than the way you write. For example, you should always make sure that you include correct facts, statistics and the like. Never make things up because you think no-one will be able to tell, it looks very bad.
7. Varied Sentence Formulation
Good prose for your blog needs to be structured in an engaging manner. A lot of this has to do with sentence length and emphasis control. You need to avoid writing the same sorts of sentences, to lead people along your writing naturally.
8. Get Outside Opinions
When you’re working intensely on something like a blog it can be very easy to get too insular with it. You always want to be getting second opinions to ensure that you aren’t misunderstanding your own work.
Conclusion
A blog is a wonderful opportunity to create something that will be special for you and anyone who comes across it. With any luck, you might get a really sizeable readership. This is why you need to be taking all the care you can to write as well as you are able to.
Michael Dehoyos is a writer and editor at Phd Kingdom and Academic Brits. He assists people with their writing projects, from books to blogs, as well as sharing his knowledge by contributing to numerous sites and publications, the academic service, Origin Writings, amongst them.
October 11, 2019
