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Thoughts.com - Best Blogs
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Create a Free Blog at Thoughts.com |
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Create the Best Blogs on Thoughts.com
There are more blogs on the internet than there are cockroaches in Florida or lobbyists in Washington, so making your blog stand out is important. Boring or poorly written blogs may be read by people a lot the first time, but you won't have repeat readers. To develop a solid base of readers, you need quality content that will leave the readers eager for more. So what makes the best blogs?
Make it Unique
People are not as unique as they think. Yes, we've all been told that we're all special little snowflakes, with no two people being the same. Personally, I don't even think that's true for snowflakes. Am I supposed to believe some scientist has gathered up every snowflake, put them under a microscope, and determined that no two are identical? I don't think so. People are the same way. Sure, we all have things that make us different, but that doesn't necessarily reflect in our writing. Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele may be unique people, but I can't tell them apart from their writing. Ideally, neither of them would be writing for a living, but they have a lot of readers, so somebody likes them.
The point is that every teenager hates their parents, feels like they're misunderstood, and writes poems in their notebook at school about how much they hate their life and want to die. A blog saying the same won't be unique, though it may be therapeutic. Likewise, if you feel a need to point out the differences between cats and dogs, baseball and football or men and women, it's already been done a million times. So if you're going to write about those topics, it has to be written in such a way as to feel fresh, which is no easy task.
When writing a blog, try to tap into your own character. Look at what makes you a unique person and try to portray that through your blog. If a complete stranger can read your blog and get a clear idea of who you are, or at least who your character is (you don't have to be honest), then you're doing a good job of making your blog unique.
Keep it Interesting
Today fewer people read than back in the days before television, DVD, video on demand, the internet, Twitter, and all of those technological advances. Not only that, but many people, especially teens, have the attention span of a goldfish. That makes it more difficult than ever for writers to capture and hold the attention of their readers. Get boring for a second and you'll lose them to YouTube or PlayStation.
Humor is important in any kind of writing. A motivational speaker once told me that you don't need to put good jokes in your speeches, unless of course you want people to remember them. Humor is one of the few things that everyone enjoys, though different people appreciate different kinds of humor. Cracking jokes, of course, isn't always appropriate. A scholarly blog about the malaria epidemic in Africa probably shouldn't be too funny. When appropriate, though, humor is a powerful tool that will make your blog memorable and make people eagerly anticipate your next post.
Make sure your thoughts are clear and focused, unless you're going for a William Faulkner type of steam of consciousness writing style. Be aware, though, that approximately 99% of the people who try to emulate Faulkner fail miserably.
Readers get more enjoyment out of a story that sucks them in and makes them a part of the events. Be descriptive and use words and phrases that evoke specific emotions and responses. If your reader identifies with the blog and feels immersed in the story then they are more likely to read the entire thing and come back later for the next post. Word everything carefully, using concrete and descriptive language. Henry David Thoreau is known as one of America's greatest writers and his famous book is about hanging out on a pond all day. What made him special is how he crafted the language. His use of language is what made him unique. Each blogger needs to attempt to do the same.
Research
Research can be important for your blog, especially if it is more scholarly or informative rather than entertaining. A well-researched and documented political blog will stand out from the countless number of bloggers ranting about government. Ranting, of course, can be a niche as well. Dennis Leary has made a good career of it. Keep in mind, though, that he rants in a unique, clever and humorous way.
Multimedia
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, and it's true. Good multimedia can enhance any blog. If you're looking for more page views, something to keep in mind is that teenage boys will click on any blog or article that has a picture of boobs. It doesn't have to be in any way related. My dad has a fascination with monkeys, so he would click on any blog that has a picture of a monkey. Or boobs. He's like a teenager that way.
However, for a quality blog, you should only put multimedia that has something to do with your topic and enhances your content. If you're discussing a public figure, a photo of that person would be a good idea. If you're talking about your new house, post a few photos of the home in your blog. You can also embed videos in your blog. Keep in mind, though, that the more multimedia you put in your blog, the more bandwidth you're using. Some blog hosting sites have bandwidth limits – though Thoughts.com does not – and even if they don't you could risk the page being too busy for some web browsers. So they key is to use multimedia wisely. Make it relevant and interesting without overusing it. Remember, though, that you cannot use someone else's photo without their permission. iStockphoto.com is a good place to legally obtain photos for use in your blogs.
The Title
Believe it or not, the title is one of the most important parts of your blog. The title is the first thing people see, whether it's looking at a list of your blog posts or whether it's finding your blog on a search engine when looking for a certain subject. If the title is generic and boring then it won't matter if your blog is a masterpiece of literature because no one is going to read it. Similarly, if your title is clever but no one can tell from it what your blog is about, many people won't bother to find out. Ideally, you want a title that is clever, unique, and clearly indicates the content of your blog post. Also, making your title search engine optimized makes people more likely to find your blog post.
The Hook
Every piece of writing, whether it is a novel, short story, news article, screenplay or blog post, needs a hook to keep people reading. Moby Dick is a phenomenal piece of literature, but it would never be read if published today, because it takes too long for anything to happen. People in today's society have very short attention spans. Something interesting needs to happen right away to keep the reader hooked. Otherwise, they'll start reading something else instead. In screenplays, the general rule is that there needs to be a hook in the first 10 pages. For novels, the hook needs to be in the first few pages. For blogs, you have even less time. As a general rule, if you haven't captured the attention of the reader in the first paragraph, you're going to lose them.
Link to Yourself
Ideally, if someone stumbles upon one of your blog posts and enjoys it, they will take the time to go back and read all of your other blogs. This life isn't ideal, though. If it was, I would be married to Salma Hayek and living out my days lying on the beach, drinking Coronas and having no worries in the world. In reality, you need to make a little effort to get readers to check out your various posts because they likely won't put forth much effort.
One way you can make it easier for them to find your other articles is to link to yourself. If you write a blog post that relates to an earlier post you wrote, refer to it in the article and create a hyperlink that sends the reader to the previous post. By linking to yourself, you make your posts easier for the readers to find. You can also promote your blog online by using sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon and Twitter, which will lead to more readers.
Revising
Good writing is good rewriting. I hate to break it to you, but none of the great pieces of literature you've read were that good in their first draft. They go through many revisions before arriving at the final project. Thomas Harris took over 10 years to write The Silence of the Lambs. J.R.R. Tolkien took 12 years to write the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Writing takes time and rewriting takes even more time, but it's necessary for quality content. While no one expects a blogger to go through hundreds of revisions over 10 years for a blog post, it is a good idea to write a rough draft, take a break, and then read it through for at least one revision.
Be Yourself
The biggest piece of advice I can give to new bloggers, or any writers for that matter, is to be yourself. People can spot fakes pretty easily, so don't pretend to be someone you're not. Don't rip off the writing style of someone else. Stay true to yourself, develop your own narrative voice and writing style, and over time you will become a better writer.
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