Blog Your Heart Out - Part 1

I think far more people should become bloggers. It's very easy, it's a creative outlet, and it's easier than writing long, boring, mass-emails. I'm starting a short series on some things I've learned over the last year or so about blogging. Go blog your heart out, kid.

1. Be patient with yourself as you develop your writing voice. Just try to post as often as you can, and don't quit. I started out blogging once or twice a week. After blogging for 14 months, now I'm trying to post every day.

2. Keep your posts short. Consolodating words is not only an excellent writing exercise, but you'll likely post more often when you put less wordy-pressure on yourself.

3. Don't write things you wouldn't want your Mama/Roommate/Professor to read. Just be wise. Vent on paper that doesn't travel to the blogosphere.

4. Use good images. The power of image plus word is underestimated. If you're not using your own, use creative commons licensed photos, and give them kind credit with hyperlinks. I take an extra minute or so to use the advanced search function on Flickr, and search only the "Creative Commons Licensed" stuff.

5. Don't despair. In your first 6-12 months of active blogging, be encouraged that there are likely people reading who are not commenting. (We affectionately term them, "Lurkers.") As you regularly write, it's likely that more will continue to read. Get a hit counter to show you just how many people are reading (or at least, landing), and to see how long they stick around to read. It's motivating. I use Statcounter. It's free.

(T-shirt photo by Nicki-G.)