Writing tips: How to write a better blog

I've got writing on my mind this week. I'm doing one last read-over of the new, revised and fabulous manuscript for my novel. I've been reading Marian Keyes, who always makes my writing heart quicken a little. And I have the new book by Monica McInerney sitting pristine in a Dymocks bag, awaiting my attention - I love a good story.

But I'm also thinking about blogging. This Thursday I fly to Melbourne for the Problogger Training Event, where I'll be speaking on a panel with the awe-inspiring Valerie Khoo and the amazing Kerri Sackville, all about how to use your blog to create paid writing opportunities. I. Cannot. Wait.

While I'm in this writing/blogging frame of mind, however, I thought I'd take the time to put together some writing tips for bloggers. Not what to write, but how to write it. These are things that I've learnt over the (nearly) three years that I've been here at the Fibro, and I hope they'll be of use to you.

•Get closer. I've written about this before, but intimacy is the key to good blogging. I'm not talking about revealing every detail of your life (though feel free to do this if you so desire). More to strip back your writing 'voice' to its bare basics. The easiest way to do this, I find, is to try stream-of-consciousness blogging. Write it all down exactly as it first appears in your mind. Every word. Don't try to edit it as you go - you can do that later. Don't try to make it sound 'writerly'. What you're looking for is the essence of you. Blog the way you talk. It's that simple.

•Go closer again. The biggest mistake that many bloggers make, from my perspective, is trying to tell the whole story. Nobody needs the whole story. What they need is the one moment that tells the whole story. The angle is important. If you find that your posts are rambling (and, really, short is usually better on a blog), hone in on the best bits. Just tell those.

•Think about your audience. While most bloggers say they blog for themselves, the truth is that there is a contract in place in a blog - you write, someone (hopefully) reads. If that weren't the case, you'd be writing in a diary with a combination lock on the front. With that in mind, you need to allow room for those readers. Leave some space in your posts to allow your readers to find the universal heart of what you're writing and to share their experiences.

•Proofread your work. I know the temptation is strong to simply put the full stop on that last sentence and hit Publish. But try to resist. Check the spelling. Make sure the last sentence has a full stop. Ensure you have no extraneous words (as I often do) where you've changed your mind halfway through a sentence and haven't quite deleted the earlier version. A good blog is a clean blog. It really does matter.

What do you think is the secret to great blog writing? Which blogs do it best as far as you're concerned? 

PS: You'll find more tips on writing a better blog, from the Problogger himself, here.

How (not) to name your blog

When I started this blog, I knew nothing about blogging. Which is probably a good thing. It stopped me overthinking the whole thing, which would have put off the process by about... two years. I just sort of decided to start one day and by the next I'd begun.

Naming the blog was easy. I gave no thought to niche or SEO or any of the other things that a person is supposed to think about when they name a blog. I didn't do a worldwide Google search to find out if there were other Pink Fibro blogs. It didn't even occur to me that most of the world would have no idea what a fibro even is.

I had moved from the Big Smoke to a pink fibro and I wrote about ... life. No brainer.

All of which is well and good should a person remain in their pink fibro for the rest of the life in question.

You can see where this is going, right?

The Fibro has a For Sale sign out the front. Actually, correct that, the Fibro has a For Sale sign with a giant red SOLD sticker slapped across it out the front. In six or so weeks, give or take 1000 or so anxiety attacks and stressful moments, Fam Fibro will pack itself up and take itself off to new premises (I only wish it were as easy to do that as it is to write it...).

A yellow weatherboard. A geriatric one. Henceforth known as The Old Girl. We met her unexpectedly, we fell in love and the rest is history.

The first thing that everyone says to me when I say 'guess what? we're moving!' is not 'yippee, good for you, how exciting!'... no, it's 'but what will you do about the blog name?'.

My response: 'nothing'. In hindsight, I should probably have called my blog Allison Tait's Blog and been done with it. But, seriously, where's the romance in that?

The Builder and I have lived in several homes together. Homes on which we've lavished inordinate amounts of tender love and care. Each time we've moved on, we've taken a souvenir. A house number from one. A gate from another. Every single potted plant we've ever watered.

When I asked him what we'd take as a souvenir from the Fibro, he laughed. "We'll take the blog, of course." No brainer.

So, here's my thinking. The Fibro has no boundaries. It has no walls. Its spiritual home will remain here on the worldwide web. See, when I write it like that it makes perfect sense, right?

Anyway, I hope that you'll stick along for the ride and enjoy the next chapter with us. Because, really, Life In A Yellow Weatherboard just doesn't have the same ring to it at all.

How did you name your blog? Have you ever had cause to question or second-guess your choice?

Fibro Q&A: How to write a better blog (tips from a Problogger)

Back in the early days of this blog, when I was still faffing about, thinking that blogging was writing on the internet, I happened to win a book in a giveaway. It was called 'Problogger: Secrets for blogging your way to a six-figure income'. "Yeah, right," I thought, tossing the book on the dining table (repository for all things Fibro) when it arrived and thinking no more of it. A few days later, on a slow news day, I picked up the book and read it from start to finish. By the end of it, I was not making a six-figure income, but I had some very good ideas about what I wanted to do with my blog - and what I didn't.

Darren Rowse is Problogger (@problogger on Twitter to be exact). He started his first blog in 2002. He now has several blogs, several books (if you're a new blogger, do not miss his 31 Days to Build A Better Blog Workbook), and a brilliant career extolling the virtues of blogging to the wider world. If you want to know how to make money on your blog, or off your blog, he's your man. He's also the go-to guy for tips on creating blog communities, using social media, and building your blog into a force to be reckoned with.

But I didn't want to talk to him about any of that. Oh no. I wanted to ask him all about the art of writing for blogs. So I invited him to the Fibro and, oh joy, he popped in for a (virtual) cuppa and a chat.

Settle back, this is good.

Do you believe that writing for blogs is different from writing for other forms of media? Why/why not?
Darren Rowse: "Tough question. I'll say yes... but with a small disclaimer! In general, I think blogs can do well with a more personal and playful voice than perhaps writers in other forms of media could get away with. This informal and personal style is something that blogs had a lot of success with in the early days and, from what I can see, is still often important in building an audience and relationship with readers.

"Having said that, my disclaimer - it does depend a little upon the style of the blogger and the goals of the blog. Some blogs do really well being written in a more formal and less personal voice. I am also increasingly seeing the more personal style appearing in other forms of media."

I've seen the line 'content is king' over and over - do you think that comes down to what you say or how you say it?
DR: "I think it's both. What you say is of vital importance - it needs to be useful to people in some way. I find that the best content is content that solves a need that somebody has. That need might be a big or important one like 'I need to know how to raise my child'. Or it could be something a little more frivolous, like 'I'm bored - entertain me'.

"How you say it is just as important though - in some ways, I think it is often what lifts good content to being great content. Your style or voice as a blogger is something that for most people comes over time and is hard to teach. Some bloggers just seem to be born with  it (Mojo), while for others it develops as they experiment with different approaches to writing and see how others respond to it."

Do personal bloggers need to worry about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)? How can they incorporate it without losing the rhythm of their writing?
DR: "My philosophy with SEO is pretty simple:

"1. Search engines are some of the biggest referrers of traffic going around. When someone wants to find information, it is more often than not a search engine that they head to.

"2. So if you want people to read your content (whether that content be 'personal' or something else), it makes a lot of sense to me to pay some attention to SEO and maximising your chances of being found in search engine results.

"3. So I advise learning the basics of SEO. Having a good understanding of how search engines rank sites and what you can do to optimise your blog is something that can be the difference between having a blog that is read - or not.

"4. However - I don't personally obsess about SEO. I know the basics and find that knowing them and practising them a little will, in time, bring changes to the way that you blog, that will lead to a natural SEO as you blog. For example - knowing that the keywords you use in the title of your post is important in SEO means you start to think about keywords more and, in time, develop better-optimised titles.

"5. Google is in the business of ranking the best and most authoritative content highest. So one of the best things you can do with SEO is to write high-quality content and build trust, credibility and authority in your niche through networking. While there are things you can tweak in your content to improve your SEO, the best thing you can do is write quality content that people share around.

So, learn the basics, implement them, don't obsess about SEO and build something of high quality."

For me, blogging is about voice. Stand-out bloggers have stand-out voices. Would you agree? Any tips to help bloggers develop their voices?
DR: "Voice is one of those elusive things that I wish I could bottle and hand out to bloggers. It's difficult to teach - some bloggers seem to be born with it, others find it develops in time and for others, it just seems to elude them.

"The main tips I could give:

*Practise - it takes time to develop your voice. The first 5000 posts are the hardest!

*Experiment - part of practising is experimenting with writing in different styles and voices. Set yourself tasks to write different types of posts. Experiment with different lengths, with formal and informal writing, with humour, with writing in the third person, with writing lists posts, case studies, question/discussion-based posts.

*Pay particular attention to how your posts are received - watch for sparks of energy and resonance from your readers. As you experiment, you'll find that some posts just seem to click with others, while others flop. This gives you hints as to what types of posts to keep experimenting with."

If you were a writer trying to build a community and a profile through a blog, what would you focus on? Is it enough to just write good stuff?
DR: "There are other factors that I think are important in building a good blog. Content is part of it, but I always try to add two other elements:

*Community: Engagement from readers (and among readers) is where the magic often happens. Ask readers questions, get them interacting with you and each other, give them homework, make them know that they're valued, build a culture of inclusivity. All of this helps make your blog more useful, but it also builds social proof and makes it easier to grow, because when new visitors come they will be more attracted to a site that is obviously active and inclusive - rather than one that simply has good content.

*Get off your blog: A 'build it and they will come' mentality doesn't really work with blogging. Just focusing all your energy on building a great blog is part of what you need to be doing, but also important is getting off your blog and interacting with other people's spaces. Identify who you want to read your blog and where they are already hanging out online - then go and interact (and be useful) in those spaces. In doing so, you'll start to build yourself a profile, credibility and, hopefully, in doing so, find readers for your own blog."

For everything you ever wanted to know about blogging, visit Darren at the Problogger website, or go say hello on Facebook. If nothing else, tell him how much you like his glasses.

**And don't forget the first-ever Fibro Facebook chat about freelance writing is on tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 8.30pm (AEDST). Hope to see you there!

Anatomy of a dud blog post: What makes you comment?

Remember when you were dating and you were waiting for Him to call. Picking up the phone 20 times a day to just, you know, check that there was a dial tone. Hanging around the general area of the telephone just, you know, on the off chance it might ring. Staring intently at the telephone, willing it to ring. Wondering where it all went wrong. Wondering why He just. didn't. call.

That was me today. Only it wasn't a phone call I was awaiting. It was a comment. Or two. I'd written my post, pushed published and then woken up this morning to read my comments. Only there weren't any. Crickets. Actually, that's a lie. There was Gill from InkPaperPen (who now has my fervent devotion for life).

I admit that I actually checked to make sure Blogger was working. The desperation. I am laughing at myself in a way that I could never have laughed at myself while waiting for Him to call.

I've written before about the fact that one of the wonderful thing about blogging is that you know exactly when a post works - and precisely when it does not.

I've read over the post in question. It's a perfectly serviceable post. Which is probably the problem. I've said my piece, I've filled a post. But I've left no room for anyone to add their two cents worth. No question. No space. Just a 'here is what I think'. Which works well in a newspaper, but not so well in the blogosphere. And it means that I miss out on half the equation of blogging - the interaction.

Writing across different media is not easy. Finding the right approach is half the battle. As is realising that the blogosphere is a place of reciprocity, and that I have, perhaps, been keeping to myself lately. There are many reasons for it, most of them valid, but nonetheless I can't sit here and expect comment love if I'm not giving comment love. (The modern equivalent of 'why the hell don't YOU call HIM?')

Fortunately for me, I have Maxabella in my life. Who left not one, not two, but four comments on said post in an attempt to bolster my spirits. The blogging equivalent of 'of course he's into you'. Ya gotta love family. And thanks to Jennifer Smart, who responded to one of my sadder Tweets about my lack of love. See, I can name them all.

So now, in the spirit of education, I really want to know something. What makes you comment? What is it about a post that makes you put finger to keyboard and get involved?

[image: baileyology.tumblr]

Blogging for writers: how to blog smarter (not harder)

Six months ago, I wrote a post about why blogging is not writing. In it (and it's here if you want the full story), I talked about the fact that there is more to blogging than simply writing on the internet. Then, in March, I wrote a guest post at Lisa Heidke's blog called 'Does a writer need to blog?'. The upshot, from my perspective, was yes, though not everyone agreed with me.

Which brings us to June. And some confusion. Blogging is not writing. A writer needs to blog. But blogging is not writing. What I find, as time goes by, is that I'm doing more blogging and less writing. The blogging cuts into my writing time. I get done the jobs that need to get done, but not the other projects. The writing I want to get done. So I wondered, am I doing this all wrong? And, you know me, I decided I need to find someone to tell me.

Annabel Candy is a copywriter, web designer and travel fiend. She set up her travel blog Get in The Hot Spot two years ago and it now has more than 20,000 visitors each month, and she also runs Successful Blogging. As well as her print work, her writing has appeared on Zen Habits, Copyblogger, and Problogger. Her ebook Successful Blogging in 12 Simple Steps is designed to help business owners and writers tap into the power of blogging.

I cornered Annabel for this month's Bonus Writer Q&A. We'll call it 'Better Blogging for Writers'.

Is writing for blogs different to other forms of writing?
AC: "Very. Books have a beginning, middle and end, but online you never know what people will read first, or even which page of your blog they'll arrive at first. That's a challenge, and bloggers should bear it in mind when they design their blogs.

"Secondly, readers tend to scan information online. If you pick up a book, you can instantly tell how long it is, but that's not the case with a blog post. You have to scroll down the screen to gauge how long a blog post or web page is. While you're scrolling down, you'll also be scanning for information to see if the blog post sounds interesting, and if you want to read the whole thing from beginning to end.

"So blog post formatting is crucial. No matter how good your writing is, if the formatting or layout is bad, people won't read it. Simple tricks like including sub-headlines or bullet-pointed lists are easy to learn and will keep readers happy."

*Note: the link to Annabel's formatting article is well worth following. Just saying.

Do I really need to pay attention to SEO, design and all those other things if I'm a personal blogger or hopeful author wanting to build a platform?
AC: "SEO is the icing on the cake. If your blog does rank well with the search engines, it might help you get new readers.

"But blog design is key. No matter how many people visit your blog, if the design is bad, or they can't find the information they want, they won't stick around. And they definitely won't subscribe or recommend your blog to anyone else.

"First impressions count, especially online and, unfortunately, if your blog looks boring, amateur or cheap, that's the impression people will get of you. I hate to say it, and I know it shouldn't be that way, but it's true. If you've ever visited a site and left five seconds later without having read a single word, you'll understand the power of first impressions online."

All the blogging advice seems to point to the importance of maintaining regular posts - at least three times a week, if not every day. How important is this?
AC: "Posting more often does help build up traffic faster. But quality is always more important than quantity. I only post once a week. That's the minimum you can get away with, and all I can manage. If I have extra time, I prefer to write a guest post for another blog and build traffic to my blog that way."

Does a blog need to be 'big' to be useful?
AC: "No. It depends on what your goals are. For example, if you want to get a book published, you only need one reader - an agent or publisher who loves it.

"If you're selling copywriting services, again you don't need a huge audience, just the kind of people who are likely to need your services.

"There seems to be a rule of thumb that publishers want bloggers to have 10,000 or 20,000 readers per month (the figure changes). But I'm not sure that's true. I think they'll base it on your writing and the first impression of your blog. Of course, a massive readership would make getting a book published easier.

"Self-publishing is probably more lucrative financially and, even with a small audience, blogging offers the potential to sell your own book yourself and get almost 100 per cent of the profits."

When you write for your own blog, what do you concentrate on? How is personal blogging different to blogging for business - and is a writer's blog on or the other... or both?
AC: "For a business blog, I'd encourage people to write about their niche, but also incorporate personal stories and some personal blog posts into that.

"I noticed from writing my blog Get In The Hot Spot, with travel stories and personal writing, that it was helping me to get web design and copywriting business. It amazed me that people were more interested in working with me because of my personal experiences than my business experience and qualifications. I suppose the two things combined are powerful, and that was a valuable lesson for me.

"I think a writer's blog should be both a business blog and a personal blog. Writing only personal stories is fine, but never stick to business all the time - people can get that sort of information anywhere. Your blog is a chance to show people what's unique and special about you - and that's what they really want to know."

[image: greeting card from paperpath/etsy]