Three weeks ago I wrote a quick post here giving 10 blog tips that could be read in 2 minutes or less. Seems that was the 3rd most popular post written in the last 30 days; figures right? I figured that I write about more than blogging around here, and that I’d take a shot and see if I could do the same type of thing regarding writing. Embrace your writing like the kid in the picture has. lol Anyway, let’s see if it can be done (of course it can be done):
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1. When the mood hits you, write as much as you can. You can always edit, and you might end up with more than one post or article.
2. Watch your nouns and adverbs. Some are okay, but go overboard and you risk the power of your message.
3. Spell check is your friend; use it.
4. Punctuation is your other friend; don’t forget about semicolons.
5. If you believe you can’t think of anything to write think about your last 6 waking hours. There’s always a tale somewhere in there.
6. Write in your own voice. If you try to sound too smart or too perfect your message will come across very stale.
7. When you’ve finished writing, if you need to read it out loud to yourself; mistakes tend to stand out better that way.
8. Long posts are fine but don’t keep repeating the same message over and over. If you said it once, leave it be and move on.
9. Never forget to give attribution to your inspiration, otherwise someone might think you’ve plagiarized them.
10. Don’t over-think. Write the best way you know how, feel your words, and others will feel them as well.
Hi Mitch,
Excellent – to the point and a great guide to follow when you are writing an article. I seem to be here more than home. But I’m trying to learn as much as I can and you seem to be right there teaching! I also read everything backwards to try to catch those words that are spelled correctly but in the wrong place. Sometimes it works for me. After reading so many blogs, I want to offer my ‘reading to catch errors’ service!
Ann, I don’t read backwards, but in my past I used to read books from the back towards the beginning. I always wanted to know what happened and then see how the writer got us to that point. I learned that trick when I used to go to drug stores as a teen and pick up books and worry that I might get tossed out if they knew I wasn’t going to buy anything, so at least I’d know how the book ended. lol I’m glad you liked the tips; always trying to help, except when I’m fussing about something (Adrienne understands that term lol).
Mitch, I can’t believe you read them backwards and had the stamina to actually read it all the way forward! Can’t remember who taught me the reading backward — I think it makes you really read every word instead of your mind just guessing at it! See you real soon.
Ann, not only did I do that but it would be over the course of a couple of weeks, since I felt comfortable only reading so much at a time. My memory was really good back then; not sure I could still do it now.
Excellent tips! Spell checker is more than a friend, she’s a life saver!
LOL! Scott, I remember griping when I couldn’t use IBM’s Writing Assistant so many years ago and was forced to switch to Word, and suddenly I discovered spell check and haven’t looked back. I can spell, but sometimes the fingers don’t quite end up in the right place, especially these days.
As usual excellent tips, Mitch. Writing is easy, but writing a good posts is very tricky and require a lot of skills. I recently started doing something, reading article that I write an hour after completion. I found out that this works best for me.
Carl, I’ve seen other people make that recommendation. I’m lucky it doesn’t have to be me since I like moving on to the next thing after writing something.
Really useful tips, actually they are very helpful for me. I am a newbie in the blogger scene and I have just started my blog a couple of weeks ago, and your list of useful points could be my starter bible:) thanks for sharing it!
No problem Manuela; I hope you saw the other post on 10 blogging tips as well.
Great tips – Will work well if used as a guideline for future use. The tips are simple enough to remember – thought not always as easy to implement.
Glad they work for you Anton. Depends on the person, but I’d hope the tips are fairly easy to implement.
I love the first one but the problem is that when the mood hits me I’m either sitting on the loo or having a shower. I’m virtually writing the post in my mind but by the time I’m finished I start doing something else and I’ve forgotten what I had mentally written 🙁
Sire, you do know that there’s a record function on your smartphone, right? lol I take mine almost everywhere with me, but luckily if I have an idea for a post I almost always remember is, so no problems there.
No good in the shower mate and if I took it to the loo I’m likely to drop it down the dunny and I’ve heard that they don’t like the water all that much 😀
My assumption was that you were talking about extended periods, not just going in and coming back out. If you’re forgetting things that quickly you should see a doctor. lol You’re right about the shower though.
Yeah, I have so much going on in my mind it’s just too hard to keep track of it all 😉
Mitch,
Some people make blogging HARDER than they ought to. They over-think it—believing they need to write a lot of words but end up saying a lot of nothing.
You know me, I don’t like reading LONG posts so if what you have to say doesn’t grab me in the first couple of sentences, I won’t stick around or come back.
Yes I do know that about you Bev, and I’m surprised I can get you to read most of what I write because of it. lol Still, I think I write better opening paragraphs now than I used to, though they’re probably still not killer openings.
I find this article very helpful because I personally know that I over-think. As I was reading this, it was as if #10 was speaking to me. I am very aware that I over-think and I’ve tried not to do it but Still ended up doing it anyway. Because of this article though, I know how to do it and do it right. Thank you so much for this article. I really loved reading it.
Jessica, many people get bogged down because they over-think and for some of them they lose the confidence to put their posts out there for everyone to see. I figure people should do the best they can, and if they get called on it then take a few lessons to get it better the next time.
Clearly and to the point. I will make sure to write down these tips and put that note on my desk, so I will momorize them quicker. Cheers!
I hope they work out for you Martin.
Oooh, good ones! I read almost every post aloud so that I can make sure to HEAR what I’ve written. I’ve done this for years (even during school)…sometimes people look at me crazy but I don’t care LOL
~Kesha
Kesha, that’s why I write at home. lol Glad you liked the tips.
I love some of your tips Mitch and I did the very same thing today.
Okay, I started with number one. I did, I sat down and started writing about something that has irritated the living “you know what” out of me and it’s going to be my post on Monday. Yeah, I couldn’t help myself but I did the rest.
Spell checked, didn’t use any semicolons, wrote it in my own voice and I didn’t over think it. Hey, I think I done good.
Great post and people love to learn about blogging. You’ll find those as your most popular posts.
Rock on my friend.
~Adrienne
Great stuff Adrienne, but no semicolons? lol I think it’s a lost art and I keep trying to bring it back, but it’s probably a lost cause, like cursive writing. I bet this post freed your mind a lot; can’t wait to see it.