Every now and then, I take a break from my usual subjects and talk about the art of blogging. I usually do this at milestone posts, like I did last time for post 250. Now 50 posts later, at post 300, I am doing it again.
I have a friend who recently started a blog based on his philosophy of life. When I read it, I am reminded of when I started my blog, and if I had only known then what I know now, well, I might of actually done things a little different. At any rate, today, as if I were giving him advice, I started writing down the rules I follow when I write in my blog. When I got done, I had come up with about 20. Here they are:
1. Shorter posts are better. That is not to say that you cannot have a good long rant every now and then. However, if every post is a novel, nobody will read it. I know that when I see a post that is too big, I always skim it, if I read it at all. One thing that I do if a post I'm writing gets too big is split it into a series of posts.
2. Use short paragraphs. There is nothing I hate more than seeing page long paragraphs -- or worse, no paragraphs -- and know that I have to read the whole freaking thing. In fact, in most cases, I won't.
3. Use a spell-checker. When you misspell something, it makes you look dumb.
4. Use good grammar. My grammar is not perfect, but it is at least readable, and I actually work pretty hard at it. To be honest, I was a B student when it comes to writing, and sometimes it shows. Now, I wish I had listened more in school. I absolutely hate, with a capital H, stupid kiddie texting acronyms like LOL, ROTFL, OMG, WTF, and so on. To me, that is not good writing. You will never find that on my blog.
5. You will make mistakes. Even after I've proof read things a thousand times, I still make dumb mistakes: run-ons, capitalization errors, stupid stuff. I've found content errors, too. I correct it when I find it.
6. Use transitional phrases to direct the reader. I liberally use "however," "granted," "in fact," "in other words," "also," "first and foremost," "in addition," and finally, "finally." I write each post like it is an essay, and weave together phrases like these to make my point.
7. Pictures tell it better than words. On most posts, I try to have a picture, screen shot, or clip art. Sometimes, I have posts that are all pictures.
8. Read lots of blogs. You will learn what you like and don't like pretty quickly.
9. Writing more will make you a better writer. I look at my posts at the beginning and now and notice a big difference.
10. Give credit where credit is due. If it is not an original idea, cite it. It can be something as simple as saying, "So and so wrote in his article entitled 'This and That' in such and such issue of such and such magazine that bla bla bla." In fact, citing someone makes you sound smarter, not dumber, because you did your research.
11. Experiment. I try experiments with homemade clip art, writing techniques, and occasionally even humor. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it does not.
12. Blogging is communal. When a group of bloggers read and comment on each other's blogs regularly, it creates a sense of community. I know when I started out, there were about four or five of us homebrew bloggers who read and commented on each other's blogs every day.
13. Don't be profane without being profound. I use well placed hells and damns, and rarely, if ever, drop an f-bomb.
14. What you think are your best, most brilliant posts, people won't get.
15. What you think are your lame posts, people will adore.
16. Post often. You will lose your readers if you let weeks, or months go by between posts. I find that every five days works for me.
17. Don't post too often. If you post too often, you will post without something real to say. Nobody cares what you had for lunch today. Really.
18. Schedule posts ahead of time. Blogger, and I assume other pieces of blogging software, allows you to schedule a time and date for posts to go out. I sometimes schedule posts as much as two months ahead. That way, if I am uninspired for a week or two, I don't have to write a single post. In essence, I bank posts for a rainy day.
19. Some subjects are taboo. I'm not talking about avoiding controversial subjects. In fact, I think there is a obligation as a blogger to cover an occasional controversy. What I am talking about instead is bashing people you work with, and things like that. Nobody wants to get fired or sued. In actuality, I don't talk about work at all. Period. In addition, I don't post embarrassing debaucherous drunken pictures of friends from parties. I even go as far as avoiding trash talking products I don't like, even bad beer. Politics? Forget it. There are plenty of other blogs for that. That is not what my blog is about.
20. Know your audience. Or, in my case: audiences. Yes, I have several types of people who read my blog. Most are homebrewers. Some are family and friends. Some are even medieval re-enactment enthusiasts. I write posts for all of them. Some posts are for one group. Some are for another. I try and mix it up so every group gets represented.
21. Okay, I said there were 20, but I actually have to add one more. This is Wil Wheaton's number one rule of writing: Don't be afraid to suck.
As I said a couple of posts ago, I did not brew beer for Estrella this year. Because of this, I was worried that it was not going to be a good beer year. I did, however, bring some interesting beers, all of them imports.
