Blogs blogs everywhere.
Just how many blogs there are is a bit hard to estimate, but Technorati reported at the end of 2008 there about 70 million. Estimates now put us at around 150 million – not including microblogging on sites such as Twitter. Whew. Anyway you type it, that’s a lot of words – a lot of words competing with your blog for readers’ attention.
On Seth Godin’s blog today he says “you write and write and talk and talk and bullet and bullet but no, you’re not really saying anything.”
So how do you, as a blogger, write something that really matters – that makes a difference for the reader?
- Can the Reader Answer Yes or No?
If you write a title such as, “Do you know how to write?” people can answer “yes” or “no” and then be done with it. They don’t need to read more. Believe it or not, when a lot of people answer no, they don’t feel compelled to read more. What you want is to position your titles so they have to read the post to get their answers.
- What’s the Point?
Know what you want to say, and then say it. Rambling is easy, brevity that actually says something, is much harder. If you have issues getting down to it – use Twitter for practice. That 140 character limit is outstanding training for short and punchy.
- Who Cares?
Once you’ve written your post, read it, and then ask yourself “who cares?” If you have an inkling that a lot of people would say, “I don’t” then delete and start again.
Information is everywhere, flashing at us from all angles and sources. Consumers of knowledge have a choice, in fact many good choices so if you’re posts are mediocre it’s going to be hard to keep them coming back. Seth concludes his post in a way that is better than what I could say: “Instead of polishing that turd, why not work harder to think of something remarkable or important to say in the first place?” Amen.
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Karen, I love this!! Often writer write about what they feel or what strikes their interest. This may be good for creative writing and journaling but not good for public writing like a Blog.
Your site is fantastic!
Aileen, so great so “see” you here! Thank you for your comment. Yes, blogging does have it’s own challenges, doesn’t it?
Lovely post, Karen! I’ve subscribed and will put this on on @alistblogging Twitter.
- Mary
Awesome – thanks, Mary. I truly appreciate all your help on zencopy.
Awesome post Karen!
I loved your points.
I love this. Great advice. I’m glad Mary pointed me in your direction through A-list. Looks like an interesting find, your zenful advice. Just what aspiring blogger need.
Hi Katie – great to find you on my site. Did you read How to Write Yourself from Naked to Free – my article inspired by your article (which I loved!) “The Adventures of a Naked Blogger”
Hi Karen,
I’m glad Mary posted your link on Twitter so I could find you here.
This was good timing for me as I had just deleted several posts from draft because they failed the ‘who cares?’ test. I was having a bit of regret over all that work gone, but now I feel better
Hi Jean – I, too, find it hard to just delete all that hard work so I keep a file where I copy and paste those posts or other writing I can’t bear to just trash. On occasion, I do find that a bit here and there that goes great in another post entirely. Good for you for doing the hard deed – which will lead to stronger writing and a stronger blog! Thank you for visiting zencopy.
Great article, Karen! Thank you. I liked the questions you posed and plan to start asking them of my blog posts. Again, thanks!
Carolyn CJ Jones
http://www.gatelady.com
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