Writing Quality Blogs

Writing?Blogs?Blogs are on-line journals where people express themselves through writing. Writing?Writing is the process where one puts down words of a language on a format that others can read. This process has not been around very long, to use one of my writing teacher's favorite sayings, "Writing has only existed for one day in the one year that humanity has existed." Speaking and thinking come much easier than writing. These processes just flow out naturally like a river of consciousness; sometimes we hardly have to think about doing them. Anyone and everyone can write words down on paper but that doesn't mean it's 'good writing', myself included. Like most things in life, our society already takes writing for granted which is proving to expose more of our ignorance. Writing is a new form of expression, and if we want to do it in a way that the masses can connect with our ideas, we have to think much more simply and clearly about this art. Now that was quite a big paragraph, you've got to wonder if I really needed to say as much as I just did to introduce this article on the best way to write your blogs on the Web. I didn't even mention this main idea, and that's what an introduction paragraph is meant to be for. This is a common mistake in many blogs out there. We try to get too many ideas across in one paragraph, sometimes even in one sentence! The key, as in all things in life-is to keep it simple. Simplicity means that readers won't get confused about what your journal entry is actually about. Introduce your main general topic at the start, and use the subsequent paragraphs to discuss separate ideas that relate to this topic. Try to tie everything up in the concluding paragraph, your main argument and the reason why you've written in the first place. Grammar and sentence construction are not easy systems to master, especially if you come from a school system that spent more time telling you about historical battles and quadratic equations than on how to read and write. This is a real problem. When we speak we can get messages across to others easily, but if we put these words down on paper, the writing just isn't interesting and doesn't connect with people's curiosities and fascination. When you write you are not talking to a close friend. You can't use slang and colloquialisms that only your local community can understand. The aim is to connect with all the people in the world, so let's make it crystal clear and enjoyable to read. Your computer has spelling and grammar checks, as well as access to a thesaurus. Use them, but remember that the machine can't decipher all the intricacies of language. Language is a world in itself, and much of its territories are undiscovered by the masses. So, again keep it simple. Short, precise sentences with single ideas are great. Many words in the English language have the same meanings (synonyms). Use the thesaurus so you don't repeat the same word over and over throughout the text. It keeps the story fresh and doesn't turn the reader off. There's nothing more boring than repetition. Using different words can be a lot of fun and a learning experience, just make sure you use a dictionary (also on the computer/Internet) to make absolute sure of the word's definition. Readability?Simplicity?Make your blog accessible by all people. You can even take into consideration that many readers will have learned English as a second language. As I've said in previous articles, keep to the point-don't go on tangents. Stick with the article's topic, and definitely stay within the realms of your blog's main area. If your blog is entitled "Jazz music", people who go there don't want to hear about how your football team won on the weekend! Please be consistent. How irritating is it to visit a blog that hasn't been written on in months or years? I hope these little tips will help you on your quest to producing 'good' writing that brings new friends and acquaintances of similar outlooks into your world. If you want people to read, the aim is to produce an emotional reaction in your reader. Pretend you are writing to another form of yourself, if it were not readable, interesting and fun?would you stick around?

Jesse S. Somer
M6.Net
http://www.m6.net
Jesse S. Somer is a 'grasshopper' writer attempting to inform other beginner writers on how they might one day become masters or 'sensei's'.


Marketing With Blogs - Part 3

In part 1 and part 2 of this article series... Read More

Using RSS Feeds to Set Off a Traffic Explosion

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is the perfect answer to... Read More

Use Blogging to Manage Your Entire Web Sites Content

Blogging is a term that means different things to different... Read More

Got Blog?

In 1999 I asked my friends and colleagues if they... Read More

RSS as a Change Agent

To better understand how RSS is changing the way companies... Read More

10 Benefits of Being a Blogger

I have been a blogger since September 2004 but only... Read More

Blogs: Todays Internet Diary and Marketing Tool

The popular blogger.com owned by Google, Inc. has been around... Read More

Top 10 Blog Writing Tips

Most of the "rules" about writing for ezines and newsletters... Read More

Why Blogs Have Become the Search Engine Optimization Equalizer

ALEXA WEIGHS IN...For those who are unaware of Alexa, it... Read More

Gentlemen Prefer Blogs

According to a recent survey, gentlemen prefer blogs to the... Read More

Marketing With Blogs - Part 2

In part 1 of this article series on marketing with... Read More

Why I Use Bloglines as My Default RSS Reader

Choosing a decent RSS reader to browse and read your... Read More

What is a Blog? In Plain English Please

If you are fairly new to the Internet, you have... Read More

Five Ways A Blog Helps You To Market Your Business

Want to advertise online without spending a fortune? Get a... Read More

Creating A Basic RSS Feed For Your Site

The future of RSS Feeds and internet marketing is looking... Read More

How to Cash In on Blogs

Over the past year or so, more and more webmasters... Read More

Its Not Enough to Blog

A properly created weblog will do the following for your... Read More

Marketing With Blogs - Part 1

Marketers have found that blogs are excellent tools for communicating... Read More

RSS, Feeds, and Aggregators

When you work online all the time, immersed in bits... Read More

Blogging Your Way To Success Part 3

(Continued from Blogging Your Way To Success Part 2)You have... Read More

Simple Syndication (RSS) -- Wheres The Payoff?

How RSS really does pay off...Have you heard of RSS... Read More

A Person Is Known By the Blog He Keeps

Literature is the soul of the wit. The best source... Read More

Business Blogging: Where Do I Start?

The new hot commodity is a blog for your small... Read More

Should Bloggers be Helping Google Fix Their PageRank System?

By now, most bloggers have heard the announcement that the... Read More

Bad Blogs Have Got To Go, Blogging Could Be Really Cool If Done Properly

There's a lot of blogs out there on the Web,... Read More