Skip to main content

Building a blog, part 4

Read part 3 here

Blog Content

If your blog logistics are all correct (see previous posts), it’s the content on your blog that keeps people coming back.

Return visitors are very good.

Here are some tips for creating great content for your blog.

Be personal.

Blog readers like to hear about personal stuff about you. Anything you’re comfortable sharing.

A blog that’s purely theme or product related can be boring. Successful blogs have both information and some personal touches.

For example, in Stephanie Quilao’s Back in Skinny Jeans blog, she blogs mostly about health issues, body image encouragement, and comments on health and fashion related news on the web.

However, Steph also blogs about her own personal struggles with weight loss and body image, making her posts personal as well as informative. Her writing style is also funny and entertaining.

Be safe.

The flip side of including personal information on your blog is to also be very careful about what you post. Do not post things that are too personal, and always be aware that there are some weird/dangerous people out there.

Don’t post personal financial information, obviously. Also don’t post your home address or anything that would enable a stalker to come visit you.

Some bloggers don’t post their children or spouse’s name, either. I think this is wise.

Some bloggers don’t post their children or spouse’s picture. I think you could go either way with this—whatever makes you most comfortable. I don’t post my husband’s name, but I do post his picture on my blog. It’s up to you what you decide to do.

So while it’s good to include some personal things about yourself in your blog posts, also be smart and safe. Don’t post information that you wouldn’t want a perfect stranger to have about you.

Next: More on what you can blog about.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Writing Fight Scenes

I love martial arts movies and action flicks. So naturally I'd write action scenes. I discovered that it takes a slightly different writing style. These are some of the things I learned, although this list isn't exhaustive by any means. Action-Reaction A fight scene is always Action-Reaction. He punches, she staggers back. She kicks, he blocks and swings a fist at her. Watch out for putting your reaction before your action: She staggered back when he slammed his fist into her shoulder. The rule of thumb is to have each action-reaction have its own paragraph, although that’s not always possible. Sometimes the sentences are too short for their own paragraphs and can be combined. It’s up to the writer how to format it: He swung a roundhouse punch. She bent backward and felt his knuckles swish past her nose. versus: He swung a roundhouse punch. She bent backward and felt his knuckles swish past her nose. Short sentences = fast reading flow Use short sentences and phrases to make re...
5 comments
Read more

How to write a kiss

There was a question on the writer’s Discord server that I’m on where someone asked how to write a kiss. They weren’t specifically asking me, but I was able to give a short answer for how I write kisses. I write and read traditional romances, so my kiss scenes tend to be heavily influenced by the genre and by how my editors critiqued my manuscripts. You basically want to focus on the emotion of the kiss and how the kiss makes the point of view character feel, as opposed to going deep into physical detail. Ideally, the description will show that the kiss is something special and not just them macking. For example the kiss made her feel ___. Or the kiss was ___ which made it seem that he felt ___ for her. “The kiss made her feel as if she were incredibly precious to him.” “His lips were gentle and almost tentative, as if he were afraid of frightening her.” “The kiss surprised her and yet felt as familiar as if they’d kissed a thousand times before. The kiss felt like home.” I...
2 comments
Read more

The 50-word elevator pitch

The 50-word elevator pitch: Basic story elements and a two-sentence novel summary Writing a 50-word summary is good to help you condense your thoughts and themes for your novel. This summary can be used when you pitch to editors or agents, and it can also be used in a query letter to an editor or agent. Swain gives this excellent method to come up with a 2-sentence (or 50-word) summary of your novel. This can be done before you write it or afterward, whichever works best for your writing style. This is similar to steps 1 and 2 of Randy Ingermanson's Snowflake method : https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/ Each novel typically has five basic story elements: Character --Your protagonist or focal character. You can sometimes have two protagonists, but even then, often the story of one character is slightly more dominant than the other. Situation --The troubling situation your character is stuck in that forces him to act. Objective --What y...
7 comments
Read more