30 November 2008
by 
24 CommentsBlog writing requires a different tool set. A blog entry is not a magazine article or a newspaper clipping. To connect with readers we have to break some freelancing rules and discover that what is right and acceptable from one medium will not work in this one.
When I started my blog just over a year ago I knew about writing. After all, I’d written hundreds of articles. I was making money from my writing. I was complimented, rewarded, praised, and touted. I wrote articles all about ‘you’, because freelance markets focus on their readers. I knew how to write captivating titles. I knew how to keep my points sharp and posts short. I even knew how to optimize content for the internet.
What I didn’t know was one fundamental element of a successful blog. I didn’t know “ME”.
Over the past year I’ve written some great posts about “you”. They were jazzy and informative. They would make excellent magazine articles. But Writer’s Round-About isn’t a magazine, it’s a blog. Month after month I created new magazine content and grew more and more deflated by the lack of response and the shallowness of growth. I didn’t understand that blog readers do not just want to know new information that can help them, they want to know real people have walked their path before them. Blog readers don’t come to Writer’s Round-About to know about themselves, they come because they want to know about me.
The First Clue: My All Time, Most Popular Post
Do you know what my all time, most popular post, on Writer’s Round-About is? It is a short, reflective post that is 100% about me and A Sax outside My Window.
I’ve often gazed at my site stats wondering, “What nugget of truth does this post hold? Why is it so popular? Why does it still get new hits every single day while other posts wither from loneliness in my archives?” The secret is, “me”.
The Second Clue: Following The Trend
Other posts in my statistics show similar trends. Reflecting on An Australian Writer’s Australia Day brought a wave of readers. The post has nothing to do with ‘you’, it’s all “me”. But enthralled readers were captivated by the story, the truth, the heart.
The Third Clue: Comments Say It All
I might have started to catch on by now but perhaps my inner child was calling out for acceptance because it took another element before I caught on. Your comments! When I talk about myself, you interact with me. Of course! Why would you interact with yourself, you don’t want to talk to you, you want to talk to others!
Why Freelance Writing Isn’t Blog Writing
In the end it comes down to this. A blog has a different audience, a different expectation, than a magazine. The writing needs a different perspective, a different depth and integrity. When I read a blog I want to meet a person. I want to know them. I want to walk a mile in their shoes and learn from their mistakes. I want to make a friend, to pat a back, to smile at a memory. I bet you want that from the blogs you read as well.
From now on I’m going to make more effort to share myself, my experiences, my thoughts, my heart. I hope you’ll respond in kind and remember, do not be afraid to talk about yourself. Blogging has created a new social acceptance. Ego is no longer taboo. Build your confidence and your voice. Be yourself!
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Christine O’Kelly knew the secret long before I figured it out for myself. Shortly after I came to this realization I stumbled across her post, The One Word That Helped My Blog Grow To 800 Subscribers In 17 Weeks.
Wow, Becca, you’ve blown me away with this post! Great insight that I never thought of before, but makes absolute sense. Thanks!!!
Joan Kremer´s latest blog postHow Much Can Virtual Worlds Be Blamed for Individual Choices?
Wow…really terrific post, hadn’t considered the potential downside of different writing styles etc…
An excellent insight, Bec! Thank you for sharing this wisdom.
Great post – that’s the same on my blog, especially when I share stories of when things went wrong and how I tried to put them right.
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You hit the nail on the head, Becca. I think “you” articles are great, because they do speak to readers, but depending on the blog, you really *need* a certain amount of “me” mixed in.
Hope Wilbanks´s latest blog postNeglect Not The Body
That’s quite an epiphany, Rebecca. And it does make a lot of sense. I hadn’t thought of it that way before. I think most of us kind of do it instinctively. But please don’t stop your writing advice.
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Rebecca, this is an amazing post. And I remember that sax post. It was sooooooooooo beautiful – and that’s because YOU’RE a beautiful, amazing gal! I’ve always loved following your blog and I saw a star when I first run into you on this cyber highway. I’m just so very glad you’ve finally realized for yourself that you are indeed a star!
I’m giving this a Digg!
*smiles*
Michele
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The first post I read here was the Sax post and I fell in love. I did not analyze it, or question. I am so glad that you continue to embrace your purpose and your voice.
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I agree, and in fact, I think that when we write from a more personal perspective, we tap into universal truths that readers relate to – so even if we write about ourselves, we’re also writing about “you,” the readers, and connecting with what can only be called the human condition. That’s what writing is all about, after all
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Wow! Thank you all for this fantastic response. I really can’t understand how I didn’t already know this. Some people know it instinctively but while I’m smart in some ways I’m not in others. lol Thankfully I’m sharing this learning journey with all of you. Our collective wisdom is incredible.
Rebecca Laffar-Smith´s latest blog postHow Freelance Writing Almost Destroyed My Blog
I do like reading about you. Sometimes I glance at writers’ blogs for the how-to, but really I like knowing you all as normal people. It helps make me feel a bit more normal. Well… one can hope anyway.
Grandy´s latest blog postNoMoMoFo 2008
*grins* I know what you mean, Grandy. Sometimes writers can feel like very peculiar beings. It’s always good to know there are others out there like us, at least a little bit.
Rebecca Laffar-Smith´s latest blog postHow Freelance Writing Almost Destroyed My Blog
Thanks for articulating the distinction between writing for different audiences.
I feel like I’m a bit of a taboo blogger in the sense that I got into it on a self-publishing line rather than a person who loves to read blogs. While this doesn’t make me a bad person, I think it does lessen the effectiveness of my blogging!
I write about my experience living and teaching in Australia for other teachers who want to do what I’m doing.
But I think it’s important to have a good balance of “me” and “you”. I distinguish them this way: the “me is about gaining the audience’s trust and their ability to rely on your experience; the “you” is about making it relevant to your reader. The latter half is essential because nobody always wants to hear about another person, do they? Communication has to be 2-way, doesn’t it?
Or, am I off the mark here in terms of the medium of blogging? It seems a lot of people just post a comment regarding the writer’s thoughts without sharing their own.
Yet, when you read about “how to blog” online, they always tell you to post comments that give your own thoughts, in order to better market your own blog.
But most people don’t do this. Is this because they don’t write blogs? Is this because they are true readers?
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Thanks for your comment Alysha, I think a lot of us are still caught up in our upbringing. We’ve been raised by a society that discourages self-awareness. We’re told it is polite to listen as others talk instead of sharing our own opinions and our own voice. With blogs and blog comments we’re developing a growing freedom to speak our mind. It takes time to embrace that.
I agree with your thoughts about needing balance. Developing trust by being willing to open up and share my own experiences is an important step but if that can’t be reflected onto the reader than it’s self-obsessed rather than helpful. There needs to be a depth to everything we blog about so that it reaches others.
So insightful, Rebecca. Thank you for a great post! I stumbled it.
kk
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Reading How Freelance Writing Almost Destroyed Blog http://tinyurl.com/5ws42w
Thank you so much, Kristen!
Thanks for this post. Our blog (http://travelingmamas.com) helps us break out from the every day freelancing for magazine and newspapers. I love that blogging allows me to write what I want, with no regard to what an editor or publisher assigns. A blog gives me a sense of freedom that I can’t get from freelancing.
Great blog. Keep on keeping on.
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OMG, seriously? I thought I was being self-indulgent when I wrote too much about myself. (As my wonderful English teacher taught me, I try – and sometimes fail – to eliminate the “I.”)
But this new insight is freeing. And it makes sense, too. My favorite parts of the newspaper, for instance, are those first-person pieces by regular columnists. I’ve been reading them for years, but never did the obvious truth break through: “I” is interesting!
Thanks, Rebecca!
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Great advice!
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Good-ness! so glad I happened upon your post tonite, was beginning to doubt my vision for my blog. After reading the view of sooo many staunch & seemingly first rate freelance writers advice on why one shouldn’t write about themselves on their blogs, I was thinking how I maybe ought not write about my journey into starting a freelance writing biz, or, allow folks to know how much I’m needing a career change:)
Thanks for this gem…
Clara.