On starting a blog
Sep. 23rd, 2013 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jetpack_monkeyAbout a year ago, someone asked me for advice on starting their own blog in the comments section of Classic-Horror.com (specifically in a post related to the closing of said website, so maybe not the best source for advice).
I ran across my reply today while doing some comment maintenance and I thought it was not terrible. I couldn't stick to it for the life of me, but it's good advice.
Write with your own voice, but never post your first draft. Find someone you trust to go over your posts before you post them, not only to check for grammar and spelling, but general readability and clarity. Trust their advice, but trust your own instincts more. As Neil Gaiman once said, "[W]hen people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong."
Post regularly. If you're not posting daily, then set up a schedule so your readers know when to expect new content and make that schedule known. Once you have that schedule, stick to it, come hell or high water. If you're feeling confident now that you can handle three-a-week, consider posting two-a-week instead, but write three-a-week. It will give you a buffer for days when you don't feel like writing.
If you're writing about a specific topic, allow for some wiggle room in the site's description and content. If you keep at it long enough, your blog will evolve, often in ways you don't expect, and you don't want to feel trapped by a narrow focus. At the same time, don't stray too far. If your blog starts as a discussion of Aurora monster model kits, branching out to other collectibles, other areas of 1960s nostalgia, or classic horror is fine. Posting daily discussions of the health benefits of celery will probably turn off readers who came because they expected model kits and model kit related subjects. If you suddenly feel a strong yen for celery discussion, consider a second blog.
The killer for every new blogger is two-fold, but it's really the same thing. You will believe that you don't have anything new to add to the blogosphere, so why bother? You will believe that nobody's reading you, so why bother? Both are just fear. Ignore fear. You're writing the blog because you feel like you have something to say. So say it. Once you've said it, say more.
It's true that nobody will read your blog at first. How can they? You haven't written it yet! One post does not a blog make. You need a lot of content before people will even begin to find you. I don't have any advice on promoting yourself. I am and always have been terrible at self-promotion. I just know that, slowly, steadily, good content and lots of it will bring recognition.
I wish I could say both fears eventually go away, but they don't. However, having readers and (especially) commenters who enjoy and appreciate your posts will go a long way towards lessening them.
I am nearly 100% certain that *some* of that was accidentally paraphrased Neil Gaiman advice (beyond the part that was quoted and on purpose). So, um, credit to Neil Gaiman for the Gaiman-y bits.
I ran across my reply today while doing some comment maintenance and I thought it was not terrible. I couldn't stick to it for the life of me, but it's good advice.
Write with your own voice, but never post your first draft. Find someone you trust to go over your posts before you post them, not only to check for grammar and spelling, but general readability and clarity. Trust their advice, but trust your own instincts more. As Neil Gaiman once said, "[W]hen people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong."
Post regularly. If you're not posting daily, then set up a schedule so your readers know when to expect new content and make that schedule known. Once you have that schedule, stick to it, come hell or high water. If you're feeling confident now that you can handle three-a-week, consider posting two-a-week instead, but write three-a-week. It will give you a buffer for days when you don't feel like writing.
If you're writing about a specific topic, allow for some wiggle room in the site's description and content. If you keep at it long enough, your blog will evolve, often in ways you don't expect, and you don't want to feel trapped by a narrow focus. At the same time, don't stray too far. If your blog starts as a discussion of Aurora monster model kits, branching out to other collectibles, other areas of 1960s nostalgia, or classic horror is fine. Posting daily discussions of the health benefits of celery will probably turn off readers who came because they expected model kits and model kit related subjects. If you suddenly feel a strong yen for celery discussion, consider a second blog.
The killer for every new blogger is two-fold, but it's really the same thing. You will believe that you don't have anything new to add to the blogosphere, so why bother? You will believe that nobody's reading you, so why bother? Both are just fear. Ignore fear. You're writing the blog because you feel like you have something to say. So say it. Once you've said it, say more.
It's true that nobody will read your blog at first. How can they? You haven't written it yet! One post does not a blog make. You need a lot of content before people will even begin to find you. I don't have any advice on promoting yourself. I am and always have been terrible at self-promotion. I just know that, slowly, steadily, good content and lots of it will bring recognition.
I wish I could say both fears eventually go away, but they don't. However, having readers and (especially) commenters who enjoy and appreciate your posts will go a long way towards lessening them.
I am nearly 100% certain that *some* of that was accidentally paraphrased Neil Gaiman advice (beyond the part that was quoted and on purpose). So, um, credit to Neil Gaiman for the Gaiman-y bits.
