Most people think blogging is just an online journal or
something techies only do. When I started this journey into the blogosphere, I
never imagined the work that went into writing for a blog.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways I have had so far.
·
Research your audience, write for them.
·
Short sentences and paragraphs keep your
audience.
·
Use expressive writing.
·
Tell a compelling story.
·
Blogging is fun, so have fun.
Those sum up the big picture of my new knowledge on blogging
and hopefully those takeaways can help you get started and excited about
blogging.
Change Can Be Good
It’s interesting to look how my blog has evolved both
visually and content wise. Visually I went through different variations of how
I thought my blog should look. After I went through two or three I realized I
needed to stop thinking and be simple. In design, simple and clean wins the
audience. Being able to read the content without anything else getting in the
way. So focus on content!
Speaking of content, I found that as I learned the takeaways
above, my writing was more interesting and more fun to read. Expressing my
fondness of technology was not easy to control, but it got there and my last
few post have been much better, easier to read, and enjoyable to read.
Blogging and My
Career
Interestingly in the Professional Media world, (This
includes TV News Broadcasting, Radio, and Traditional Print Journalism) there
are multiple uses for bloggers in the industry. Many of the industries I listed
have blogs and need people to maintain them with current news. The skills I am
learning now will go a long way to being multi-talented, instead of a one
dimensional employee.
The Classiness of
Blogging
Being in Dr. Clark’s blogging class has been a joy. Overall
I feel like I am learning different ways of expressing stories in a shorter
form. This is important going forward in other classwork and in the media
market. Media people don’t like to drag things out. Get to the point or get
out!
Last Takeaways
I summed up my main takeaways at the very beginning,
but here are some other observations I’ve had.
I found out very earlier that our class was a cult! We have our
own teachings, beliefs, and even our own gospel, “The Gospel of Clark”.
“The Gospel of Clark” isn’t your normal biblical gospel, but
a gospel about Dr. Clark’s biggest annoyances in punctuation and how to fix
them. Even Clark himself gave us his Sermon in the Classroom. It included six
commandments on writing and possibly more.
The last takeaway I will leave you with is the importance of relaxing and focusing on what matters for you and your blog.
Remember to write for yourself and your audience. Write with
purpose and fluidity. I always follow a quote that Google personifies to its
employees, “Do not think, but think when your not thinking.” Essentially this
idea is that we do our best thinking when we are not thinking.
Don’t be afraid to
write down what you don’t think.
