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How to Write Good Blog

By way of Blogging Pro, I learned of an article at MarketingProfs (Professionals? Professors? Profiteers?) called How to Write Compelling Blog Posts. The piece is as effective in making its points as any similar write up of its kind could be (in the writing section of any bookstore check the covers of the “how to write a bestseller” trades and you’ll find the number of blurbs announcing actual best-selling authors who’ve read them is a number quite similar in size to zero).

I’ve covered similar ground before, but allow me to comment on the MP article’s advice and so add to and freshen my own:

“Adopt a direct style. Declarative sentences are good. Web readers demand them.”

I could argue with that. In fact, let me suggest that instead of declarative sentences, go for argumentative ones. Writing is never as direct as when it’s in your face. Web readers may not demand it, but believe me, it really is what they want.

“Link like crazy. One thing that distinguishes blog posts from dead-tree journalism is that bloggers link prodigiously.”

Yes, and even random linking with no apparent purpose is better than none.

“Write less. Omit all unnecessary words.”

This is plain wrong. The point of blogging is to get people to read. The more you write on your blog, the more they’ll read, and the longer they take to read it, the happier and more self-important you’ll become. In such an equation, there’s no such thing as an unnecessary word. Rather, you can never have enough of them!

“Write good headlines.”

Shouldn’t that be “Write headlines well?” In any case, I have a problem with their examples:

• Before: Pakistan: NA body on S&T meets [Huh? Who's NA? What is S&T?]
• After: Pakistan National Assembly Calls Water Resource Problems the Nation’s Major Issue

Oh yeah, I’m going to read that last one… YAWN! Buddy, it’s those questions that get you to click through. Who’s NA? What is S&T? Don’t worry, because I’m gonna tell you—but only if you click my link!

• Before: The B. B. King Book
• After: I’m Writing The B. B. King Biography

Sure you are. Look, it’s true most bloggers blog about their lives and what they’re up to (currently researching Chuck Mangione’s life?), but who the hell is going to be bothered to click through to something titled:

• My youngest child had the flu last night

Not me, that’s for sure. However, if you went with:

• My kid spat up a lung on the leather upholstery!

Now you got me.

“Keep sentences and paragraphs short.”

Again with the brevity. If they were serious about it, this would have been “Keep things short.”

“Don’t take yourself too seriously. Blogging isn’t brain surgery. Don’t get pompous or dictatorial.”

Don’t get pompous or dictatorial?! There goes 50% of blogging right there.

“Never lose your sense of humor.”

Heh.

“Write like it counts. ‘No matter what your audience size, you ought to write as if your readership consisted of paid subscribers whose subscriptions were perpetually about to expire. There’s no need to pander. Compel them to re-subscribe,’ said Dennis Mahoney on A List Apart.”

When you’re writing like it counts, you quote? Anyway, at least they’re following my guidelines.

“White space is your friend. It makes reading from the screen easier. Nothing is harder to read than a solid block of copy on a computer screen.”

Wasn’t this covered in “Keep sentences and paragraphs short?” I think we can add one more to their list: Don’t be redundant. Unless you’re into the excess of words thing, in which case you’re violating rule #3. You just can’t win at this!

“Use the simplest possible word and sentence structure.”

Ok.

“Read your post out loud and make sure you don’t get stuck on complex construction. If you trip on a word the midst of reading a sentence aloud, rewrite the sentence.”

Sure, and do this a lot when you’re blogging from work, because nothing makes the boss wonder about your position in the company more than when you read aloud from your personal blog’s entries!

And when writing posts using lots of exclamation points, scream it out loud!

“Forget what you learned about business writing in school if you graduated before 1990.”

But…

“Cardinal Sin: Say ‘This is about me,’ never ‘This is about myself.’ Same with ‘you’ and ‘yourself.’”

So back on January 16 when me wrote:

I’d blame myself, but I didn’t know the setting existed. So in a way, I guess I do blame myself.

What me should have composed was:

I’d blame me, but I didn’t know the setting existed. So in a way, I guess I do blame me.

Me got it.

“Use bulleted points whenever you can.”

• I
• thought
• you
• said
• to
• forget
• what
• I
• learned
• about
• business
• writing.

“Use subheads every few paragraphs, even in a 300-word post.”

Sounds like you send out quite the memorable memos.

“Use bold text and italics for emphasis on words and phrases.”

AND ALL CAPS IS EVEN BETTER.

“Make sure your posts are easy to scan.”

If you can print them out, you can scan them… (”It’s better to be readable than scan-able,” said me)

“Choose your voice and keep it consistent.”

Because the last thing you want is to have your readers think you’re schizophrenic. Unless that actually is what you want, in which case ignore this one.

“Don’t be afraid to voice opinions.”

Really? Are you sure?

“Ask these questions to yourself before hitting “Publish”:”

Shit, I hate having to take a quiz before allowing myself–me to blog. All right, as long as it’s multiple choice…

• Is the topic clear to someone who reads only the headline?

So it’s not multiple choice?

• Does the lead paragraph tell who and what the story is about and why the reader should care about it?

Suddenly we’re not writing a blog, but a newspaper article. I think I see where this is going.

• Is the angle you’ve used likely to seem newsworthy?

And now it’s “what’s your take on the scoop, McMullen?!” At this point I’m ending the quiz, because if someone is writing in their blog like they’re a ‘Journalist, the Next Generation,’ they’re hardly going to be the type looking for style guidelines from a marketing web site.

To finish up, let’s hit the last few ‘commenting on blogs’ paragraphs:

Oh, forget it. This is me blog; me’ll let someone else comment on it.