Shelly at This Eclectic Life recently wrote about Fishing For An Audience which got me thinking…
You see, she was talking about how we write (or blog) with a certain goal in mind. Typically it’s with the goal of getting an audience. How we define that audience really affects how we write. She mentions people who use keywords (or topics) to get “discovered” on social bookmarking sites. I know I’ve written a post or two with SEO in mind but I also realize that I can’t write the end all post about a subject I don’t know about.
This is definitely a subject I think on often. Like most bloggers, I wrestle with writing what I want and what I think my audience wants. I notice certain posts attract a lot of visitors but few comments while others get lots of comments – good ones too. For me, my best posts are the ones I didn’t spend too much time editing. Rather, I simply wrote what I thought, as I thought it. It’s not often pretty but it seems to connect with people in a way that only blogging can.
I guess that’s the point. You should write what you know, but more importantly, write how you talk. Confusing, i know. But hear me out. People listen to you because you tell an interesting story. Whether its what happened last weekend or giving driving directions, you have a style – don’t fight it. But maybe no one listens to you, that’s why you blog. You still have a style, it’s just not any good (haha, I kid). You probably think a better ways you could have said something but long after you said it. Write that.
Rory, at Clean Cut Blog, has a Group Writing Project going on until August 3. He suggests ?Write your own blog post presenting your first rule of writing. Not a top three, or five – what would you say is the most important rule according to you, and why? What would come before anything else?? You can go to his site to read more.
I love my comments. It shows that people are not only visiting, but they somehow relate to what I say. I feel sometimes like I’m just plain old boring…a housewife with a bunch of kids…but the comments remind me that I have friends out there that like me (usually, anyway ;) ). I get a ton of visitors…but if I don’t know who they are or why they come, it doesn’t mean quite as much, you know? I’m into blogging for the social aspect of it :)
Excellent post. I think that in writing how we talk it makes the writing easier, don’t you? I try to pretend that I am sitting on the porch talking to just one friend. That way it makes it seem more like a conversation. Thanks for linking back to me! I’ll have to add you at the bottom of the post.