A Guide to Blogging

Introduction: I am a veteran blogger who focused primarily on a horror movie related blog. Each week I would watch a few horror movies, read online articles about horror movies, research events in the horror film industry, or create lists of horror related material. These would make up the majority of my blog posts per week. I would like to thoroughly outline the process and ideas to become a successful blogger. Understanding these ideas will grant you the concepts of becoming a reliable blogger.

Brainstorming: Begin considering the main topic for your blog. The central theme should have a connection to a topic you personally find interesting. For example, I thought writing a blog about movies would interest me. An even better idea is personalizing your topic even more. For example I specifically focused on horror films. Another example would be books and narrowing it to only mystery novels. A broad view keeps ideas fresh, but you will find blog readers more interested in more explicit topics. After deciding on a topic you must consider what you hope to accomplish from this blog. Keep in mind who your readers are and what they will want to read. Your goals should not only meet the expectations of your readers, but your own ambitions as well. You are the one writing the blog after all.

Developing: Eventually, once you decide upon a topic, you’re going to have to create the blog website itself. I suggest joining one of multiple sites that will host your blog. These sites are user friendly and aid with your blog management. Templates and URLs are also easily accessible with these websites. Another good feature is the archives that these websites use to keep all your posts secure so you can easily reference back. These websites also make it easier to visit or find other blogs with similar and different interests. Members of a blog host site can more easily leave comments and feedback as well. A host website that I used was at www.blogger.com . The important thing to remember is that blogging is a community activity and you want the community to interact.

Composing: Once your blog’s website is looking clean and fresh, you should start writing posts. Your posts should contribute to your overall topic or theme of the blog. For example, if you’re posting about television, making a post on a new show is completely relevant. You can also stretch your imagination and get a post topic from relating to personal events. If you’re writing about television a possible topic would be your disgust towards the price of a new television set. Developing ideas may stump you at times, but there are multiple other brain catalysts to get one brewing. Think about the reasons you’re interested in your topic. Consider making a list of your favorite aspects of your topic. Reflect on the possible new arguments you can bring to the online community regarding your topic. Respond to others and their blog posts.

Posts: Make your initial posts relatively modest in length. No one wants to read an extremely lengthy post when you have relatively no credibility yet. That should be one of your first goals. Gain readership of other bloggers who may agree or disagree with you. Hopefully they respond to your posts and you in return can post on their blog for more feedback. Another thing to keep in mind is making the post interesting to other readers. On my horror movie blog I made sure to add my own personal analysis to my reviews to help contribute new information to the community. Fresh new thoughts and ideas are the most important factor to gaining readership.

Information Gathering: It is important to gather credible and reliable sources for your information. If you feed nonsense to the public, they will eventually catch you and prove you wrong. There are multiple reliable sources in books and on the internet. It is really important to cite quotes or where information is coming from so the audience knows you are not creating rubbish. Another benefit is if the information is faulty, you can prove to your readers that you were not the one who initially created the misinformation. Creating hyperlinks to articles can be a great addition to any post. Bloggers like clicking and reading new information on topics that interest them so post credible articles that you feel snuck under the radar of others. Not every article or website should make you send up flares though. It’s important to remember you want to create new information. Recycling old information or refurbishing dead arguments is a flagrant error.

Developing a Voice: When you’re composing any written material, there is a voice with a tone. For example, the guide I am typing now has a very instructive and educational voice to it. If I were to insert more commands it would more likely sound demanding or authoritative. When you write you should note how your words read back. Your sentences may be incoherent or add extra tones to it such as unwanted sarcasm. Whether you want to be funny or serious, this heavily relies on your tone of voice. Consistency is almost as important as credibility. Writing satirically about terrible movies entertaining you is a great idea. However, if in one post you start speaking seriously about good movies being awful. Confusion among readers may begin. Remember you’re trying to convey your ideas into text. No one can read the thoughts in your head.

Pleasing Everyone: You’re most likely writing this blog for your own personal enjoyment. You are running the blog on your own terms. No one can force you to change anything, but you will encounter other bloggers with advice and constructive criticism most likely. Don’t fear changing a blog approach that doesn’t seem to attract new readers. Obsession over gaining new readers may drive you to break unspoken rules in your community. It’s important to look at other blogs and see what rules they abide by. In closing I’d like you to remember my “Five C’s” I briefly mentioned throughout this guide in order to appease everyone within your blog community.

1: Credibility: Make your blog believable and honest. Gain trust from other bloggers.

2: Consistency: Make you’re blog a fun routine. If you really enjoy an aspect of your posts continue it. The tone of your voice should remain constant, but ever improving.

3: Criticism: Allow people to criticize your work. It’s the only way you will be able to improve. Criticize other bloggers constructively. Do not attack another blogger, but give advice to improve their message.

4: Cautious: Be cautious about what you put out on the internet. You don’t want to say something controversial and then have angry readers start mailing threats. Anonymity is the best when on the internet. Another thing to be cautious about is comments. Do not insult or attack others.

5: Creativity: Most of all, you need to be creative. This blog represents your own individual thoughts and ideas. It also should be introducing new topics and ideas to your community. This is also where you can have the most fun generating all sorts of different posts.