Cecelia Hanley, Chew on this blogger for The Gazette, offered some blogging advice in an email. This is one of several posts related to Bloggers share lots of advice.
Have a general idea on what you want to write about. Yes, blogging is conversational, but it should have a point, not just stream of consciousness. Even if it’s a short entry about a funny occurrence, it should have some relevance.
Make it more conversational. Use phrases you would use in everyday life. But be careful, don’t get to folksy. Just like with any journalistic endeavor, be honest with your intentions and who you are.
Decide what you’re going to leave in and a more importantly, what you’re going to leave out. I don’t write about my boyfriend because he requested that our personal life be personal – even our dinners. It’s easy to write around that. I say “we” and “my family.”
You can offer opinion, but don’t be harsh or too gushing (leave the exclamation points at home). As a blogger, you’re still a writer, use words and be eloquent. Refrain from making it a holiday / Christmas letter. On that note, don’t be afraid to save drafts. Sometimes, if I realize I have two points or anecdotes that don’t relate as well, I copy and paste them into a draft and save it for later.
Even if you’re offering up your opinion, make sure there is fact to back it up.
Blogging is perfect for those fun things that happen out while reporting that have nothing to do with what you’re writing about. Post them on the blog. For example, you’re covering a chili cook off, you do the normal story about the winner, what they used, yada yada. But you find out that one of the entrants who didn’t win takes chili and other food to her home-bound neighbor every week. Blog that.
If you write “I’ll write more on that later” make sure you do just that.
If people leave disparaging comments, address them in a post. If the person becomes very hostile, do not be afraid to block them and be honest about that. But engage your readers in your blog. Respond to comments in the comment field or even with a new post.
Blogs are also a great place to put news releases and notices that the newspaper doesn’t have space for anymore. Copy, paste, edit, publish.
[...] Cecelia Hanley [...]