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Some blogs (mine!) are wordy; others are short and to the point. Some use lots of illustrations, others don't use any. Some use all the gadgets and gizmos that their blogsite of choice provides, while others don't tinker in case it breaks something. (That would be me, then.)
Of all the ones you read, do any stick with you? Did any one of them make you think you'd learned something, or had a laugh or a cry, or been inspired?
Blogging is really an extension of the writer's personality. Nobody knows what they're doing when they start out; they all wing it. After all, it's a place where an individual writes whatever they have to say, hoping that someone out there will read it. It's a way to communicate with an unknown audience, or no-one at all.
Got to try it to find out!
I read an incredibly long blog on the A-Z the other day because it was incredibly well written and I couldn't stop reading.
Other blogs I start and know that the author couldn't write their way through a get well card without killing the recipient.
I've lost my own writing in the process, the thing that I had to do, and I can't seem to get it back. Perhaps 400-500 word posts aren't the way forward. Perhaps my topics aren't right, either.
Just write to please yourself and the rest will work itself out.
Rome wasn't built blah blah blah...
You got me summed up there.
I liken it to the schoolchild who spends hours on the cover, but doesn't get round to the content of the project. Your novel is the whole point, surely - can't promote something that doesn't yet exist.
One of the things about writing is that we find all manner of reasons not to do it - even though it's the one thing we exist to do. Many, many writers are guilty of that, both published and otherwise. We have to tune out the 'I must just check TB/add to my blog/see what the online news is' voice, and listen only to the characters who are shouting out to us for their existence.
The reason your blogs aren't working is because they aren't what you need to do, and they are hollow until that novel is written. You know they are a way of procrastinating, even though you think you ought to do them because everyone says you should have a blog...
What you should have is a novel! So forget the rest, and just write.
If anyone here can help, you know you only have to ask.
I'm better at posting the odd comment on FB or Twitter.
I completely agree with the advice given. If you have a book to write, that's what your focus should be. That's your dream, not writing a blog.
The blogs and the chore of having to post every week was drowning out the chatter my characters were making that I couldn't hear them any longer.
This afternoon I've allowed them to start speaking again. I need to see this journey with the two of them to the end, so they are my main priority at the moment.
If anyone has any advice or help with how to write contemporary women's romance, please let me know. I would really like some help and advice on it, as I want to finish it this year. I'm already up to page 159 with 47,000 words.
None of these feel like a chore. If/when any of them do, I'll discontinue them.
Anyway, on the topic... I recently came across this article: http://writetodone.com/?s=new+style+blog+writing
Which basically claims that nowadays you have to write your blog in the style of copywriting. I am toying with blogging a response to this because I find when I read blogs adhering to said style it reads flimsy and unsatisfying. And, may I sound incredibly prejudice here for one second, it feels very American (as in, commercial/branded/salesy). Sorry Americans reading this! But you do generally live in a more branded culture than us Brits.
However, there is a lesson to be taken from this. My feeling is that mixing it up might work better. I think it could be a good thing for writers to learn a bit of copy style to draw readers in and get to the point, rather than rambling, but I also think it needs to lead to meatier content in order to get reader satisfaction.
I understand these days it's easier to read simple copy when on the fly, but it also infiltrates the internet with a culture of dumbing down and turning everything into a sales pitch, which goes against the very thing that made blogging so popular and successful in the first place. (Usual story- get a good thing and then the money arrives and ruins it). How many times have you read a blog article with a great headline online to find it didn't really provide you with anything worth learning about? Or it could have gone much further, but didn't?
So, I'm for taking a stand against this idea, to a degree. Yes, make it more gripping from the outset (and, of course, the main part should continue to do so too), but don't shy away from complex or meaty content, either.
Sorry, waffled a bit there, ironically...
This is something people (Americans mainly) don't seem to understand at all.
My point is, most posts that adopt this style seem rather flimsy, and I feel somewhat cheated when I get to the end, because it touches on the subject too lightly. Conversely, if the beginning of a post is too chokka and not easy on the eye, it'll lose my attention quickly. That's why I say a combination of both copywriting style and magazine content would be ideal. (For my tastes, at least.)
Incidently, the places adopting this new suggested style do often get high visitor numbers, so it's not instantly dismissable, in my humble, if high numbers is what you are aiming for.
@Phots - I'm not so sure that your blog posts should be in your fiction writing style. Blogging is effectively article writing and a different type of writing that requires a different approach. In saying that, there's no reason it shouldn't be in line with your author *voice* or brand. Your personality will often come through in both, anyway. Or personalities, depending on how many you have
@ Tiny Nell - I quite enjoy blogging as a diversion from fiction writing if I'm dithering on where to go next in the story, or even just to explain writing stuff to myself -- I find it helps me see elements I need to bring in and have overlooked by thinking about writing in an analytical way. Keeping it regular is certainly a challenge. That's when you need guest posts, but if you have a small number of readers it's not the most appealing offer!
That's probably why no bugga reads it
I have started, restarted, stopped and started a blog. I currently have one going. And in all honesty it is my most successful. I've picked my 'theme' - what I am going to try and write about every time (For me it is crime and mystery), but I am not afraid to veer from it. I also spend an hour or so per month trying to write at least 4 posts, and schedule them. If I get an idea for a post, I write it and schedule it. I have a quick read through, but editing is minimal. I don't blow my own trumpet. I talk about what I write, my opinions and personal challenges etc. but I always open for discussion. No one has commented yet, but my blog is only 1 month old. I check in a few times a day, see how it's going, any comments and just general supervision. But it is not my priority in writing.
When all is said and done, I have started so many blogs because 'I should have one', and this one is there for that reason. But I am more comfortable to go into realms that are for me, and not necessarily publishers. And I have had good feedback too!
So, you need to think why you have the blog. And if it's because you think you should have one, perhaps you need to look at why. I chose crime, as that is my genre. On my blog I test ideas out. What is your genre? I am sure you can come up with loads to blog about!
Or just get rid of it. If you aren't happy with it, and it isn't paying your bills, then it needs to go. But don't write blogging off completely. It might be suitable for you at a later date. It might not, but just because it isn't working out now, doesn't mean you can't try again in the future if you so wish.
But yes, I always use pictures.
https://ingridsengerperkinsauthor.wordpress.com/