Greten's Rules for Blogging and Kicking Ass in the Blogosphere.
I love reading other people's blogs. In fact, I have a selection of blogs that I read everyday. But I fall "out of love" with a blog if the writer stops blogging often. (AwfulPlasticSurgery is a prime example... The posts are too far and few now.)
My friend, Greten, was asked recently what his thoughts were on how to effectively be a blogger... And here's what he wrote back to the group... I loved his take too much not to publish it.
------------Greten's Rules For Blogging-------------
1. Publish regularly. Give yourself deadlines. I try to write at least one entry weekly. You should see my 'slush' pile, entries I've started and abandoned. Writing is hard.
2. Proofread your work. Blogging is writing, it's all about revision. Misspellings, inaccuracies, bad grammar, excessive swearing, etc. are not cool. No one reads the average blog.
3. Pick a niche and stick w/ it. Pick a tone and stick with it.
4. Read other blogs. Comment on the ones you like. But don't use this shamelessly as a method of self-promotion. If your intentions are good, it will show through. If they are not, it will show through.
5. Don't forget Sturgeon's Law: "90% of everything is crap." This applies to just about everything, "90% of TV shows are crap", "90% of magazines are crap", etc. I know people who aspire to be the next John Grisham solely b/c he sells millions of books. Why anyone would aspire to be a shitty writer is beyond me. Aspire to produce something of quality and the readers will follow.
6. Ask yourself, "If I were a reader, would I read this? Am I giving readers something of value? Am I informing them? Entertaining them? Am I talking down to them (bad!)?" etc.
7. Emulate people and writing you admire.
My friend, Greten, was asked recently what his thoughts were on how to effectively be a blogger... And here's what he wrote back to the group... I loved his take too much not to publish it.
------------Greten's Rules For Blogging-------------
1. Publish regularly. Give yourself deadlines. I try to write at least one entry weekly. You should see my 'slush' pile, entries I've started and abandoned. Writing is hard.
2. Proofread your work. Blogging is writing, it's all about revision. Misspellings, inaccuracies, bad grammar, excessive swearing, etc. are not cool. No one reads the average blog.
3. Pick a niche and stick w/ it. Pick a tone and stick with it.
4. Read other blogs. Comment on the ones you like. But don't use this shamelessly as a method of self-promotion. If your intentions are good, it will show through. If they are not, it will show through.
5. Don't forget Sturgeon's Law: "90% of everything is crap." This applies to just about everything, "90% of TV shows are crap", "90% of magazines are crap", etc. I know people who aspire to be the next John Grisham solely b/c he sells millions of books. Why anyone would aspire to be a shitty writer is beyond me. Aspire to produce something of quality and the readers will follow.
6. Ask yourself, "If I were a reader, would I read this? Am I giving readers something of value? Am I informing them? Entertaining them? Am I talking down to them (bad!)?" etc.
7. Emulate people and writing you admire.
Comments
Yo - great response from Greten. I think the hardest part is finding that niche where people enjoy coming back to read your rambles on a regular basis.
I would add one more Rule though:
11) It's very hard to blog - it's kinda like Rocket Science....not everyone gets it.
Oh shizzzznap - there are maybe 4 inside jokes there...weeee!