Write Better Blog Posts

Since I started blogging about a year and a half ago up until a short while ago, I faced undue pressure that only my relentlessly perfectionistic self could impose. When it came to any work of mine, which would meet the eyes of other people for their potential evaluation of it, I gave myself no leeway. Either my blog posts had to perfect or I couldn't be happy with myself. Along the way to achieve perfection, which I've only recently come to accept as being unattainable thanks to enough self-evident results and some serious cognitive therapy, I've learned a lot about writing blog posts.

I would like to share with you here a few tips I learned about blogging as I sought to attain the high standards I set myself. My blog wouldn't be where it is today if it hadn't been for these valuable tips. I hope that perhaps in some small way, these ideas might help you, too!

Before you write

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2. Stick to one topic whenever possible.
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4. If you have no idea what to blog about, write whatever comes to mind. Then take a step back and look for a general topic that stands out, and make it the focus of your post. Clean up, removing unrelated things and unnecessary clutter as needed, and then continue (or start) writing following the path you've created.
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6. While you may be writing for an audience, put yourself first when it comes to choosing a post topic. This is your personal journal. In the end, you will be the one most likely to benefit and learn the most from this experience. If you have blogging goals, keep referring to them to stay on track.
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8. Write only what you're comfortable sharing. You can always go to those good old-fashioned diaries or private online journals for those very intimate thoughts and highly personal events that you would rather not tell the world about.
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10. Be wary of writing public posts about certain subjects (or people), which may compromise your situation in real life (ie: work, relationships, etc). You never know who's going to come reading your blog.
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12. If you're going to rant, try to do so without using strong, abusive language. There are much more creative and powerful ways to express emotions such as anger or frustration through the written word. Your readers will feel less alienated and will actually find it easier to make a connection with what you are going through if you refrain from using profanities.

    
    

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While you're writing

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2. Readers have a short attention span. Either keep your posts short and sweet or find ways (see below) to keep your readers engaged.
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4. Break up those long paragraphs into short ones! Your readers will be more likely to read through the whole thing.
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6. Similarly, try to keep those sentences short. More power lies in brevity.
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8. Organize your material so that it has a clear beginning, middle and end. Use subtitles as appropriate. Such clear-cut organization will make your posts easier and faster to read. Once again, keep in mind that most readers can only spend a limited amount of time reading each post.
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10. Add appropriate visuals (ie: personal photos, stock images and charts) to bring your ideas alive and engage your readers. A good number of people are visually-oriented and will only look at the photos to find out what the post is about.
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12. Aim to use more colorful words to make a stronger connection with your readers. "I'm bubbling with joy" evokes so much more than an everyday statement like "I'm pretty happy."
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14. Find your inner voice by speaking from the heart and being yourself. This voice, through your own writing style, will tell your readers who you are and will help them connect to you more on a more personal level.

    
    

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After you've written your post

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2. If you would like your readers' input through comments, at the end of your post present them with a question related to the topic at hand, either by asking them to give you advice or to share their personal experiences with you.
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4. To keep people coming back for more, give them a hint of what they may expect next time. They'll be eager to return.
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6. Re-read your posts at least five or six times for cohesiveness, grammar, spelling and typing errors.
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8. If you're short on time, at least watch out for spelling and typing errors, and flagrant grammatical no-nos.

   
   

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