My guest post today is the fabulous Erin, author of the blog Erin Margolin. I’ve been blogging with Erin since Theta Mom’s inception and it’s been a pleasure to watch her come into her own both as both an authentic writer and blogger. Today, she is sharing some practical advice to help you get your own writing in great form.
Instead of gettin’ all Shakespearean on you, I’m here to give you some ideas to help you write kick-ass blog posts. While I don’t claim to be any kind of expert I’ve been in Blog Land for a few years now, long enough to learn at least a little bit. I know what I like to read and I know what I like to write. So thank you, Heather, for sharing your space with me today. You are someone I look up to and admire, and hopefully one day I can build an amazing empire as you have!
Top Ten Ways To Create Great Blog Posts:
1. Good grammar is essential to great blog writing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stopped reading a post because of improper subject/verb agreement, the use of “their” when it should’ve been “there,” or even basic spelling mistakes that can easily be remedied by spell-check or www.dictionary.com. Run-on sentences also drive me batty, especially when there are no paragraph breaks. I get visually overwhelmed and I can’t read it. Chop things up into smaller, more digestible bits. Really caring about your writing AND your readers means consulting your dictionary or even that old grammar handbook hiding in the back of your closet.
2. Shorter posts are very attractive to readers. We’re all busy with our lives outside of Blog Land. If I open a post and see that it’s lengthy, I’m less likely to read it all the way through. There are certainly exceptions to this, but for the most part I try my best to keep my posts brief, two or three paragraphs. Challenge yourself to get your point across in fewer words!
3. Be different, be unpredictable. I’m not interested in your parakeet’s horrible head cold or seeing photos of your children every day (sorry). Dare yourself to mix it up. If you are killing yourself trying to think of something to say, DO NOT POST. Posting daily will not necessarily retain readers. It’s about the quality of your posts, not the quantity, remember? Followers will not disappear just because you skip out for a few days here and there. In fact, if you make them wait, they may get really antsy and eager to see what’s coming up next!
4. Read your post out loud to yourself a few times before you publish. This will help you catch errors and maybe even “see” something you didn’t earlier. Find a buddy or a writing partner, someone you can bounce ideas off of, or someone who’s willing to proof your posts and give you constructive criticism.
5. Read a lot: newspapers, books, magazines, and other blogs. I’ve always thought that reading is the single best way to improve your writing.
6. Read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. She talks a lot about writing through the crap to get to the good stuff underneath. Get your thoughts down first, edit later.
7. Keep it light and interesting. Toss in a vlog, a guest post, a Top 10 something, a recipe, even a short story or a poem. Save the drivel in your drafts, please. If you’re scraping the insides of your brain and coming up with nothing, chill out: the world will not come to an end. If people love you and your writing, they will come back. You don’t have to force it.
8. Write the truth, what’s in your heart. Write what you know and in the words of Cheryl @Mommy_Pants, “Write what you don’t know!” In fact, why don’t you check her out @TheRedDressClub where she posts weekly writing prompts. Whenever I need inspiration all I have to do is hop over there.
9. Look at your language. Do you use metaphors, similes, personification? What about your verbs? Did you simply get up? Or did you “jump” up? Did you pop up out of your seat like a piece of toast from the toaster? Or did you clamor over the person next to you and trip over her purse? Bring us into your post with your words. Use vivid description and details to draw us in, make us feel like we’re there.
10. Last but certainly not least: BE TRUE TO YOURSELF. Be authentic. Be you. Don’t try to imitate anyone else. No one is youer than you (Dr. Seuss). Just relax and let your real self shine through.
Please send me an email if you are interested in guest posting at Theta Mom® for TMC Network. Full details can be found on the Network page.
Great tips from a fantastic writer!
thanks so much for coming by, Jessica!
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All of this is so true! Thank you for the great reminders, Erin. I have so much to learn from you!
Ah, but Erin! I am still learning myself, and remember—I am no Theta Mom! I just take it a day at a time and learn what I can when I can.
So happy you stopped by!
Yes, yes yes! All of it. No surprise that Erin is bringing the good advice. I have really enjoyed the liberating quality of posting only when I have something to say. Really…for most of us, this is supposed to be fun, anyway. No pressure.
EXACTLY! Blogging = FUN. I could have simplified one on my list very easily that way. Spot on, Nance.
These are awesome! I have also read that is important to write the unexpected every now and then.
I agree completely! I try to do that. I’m not perfect by any means. And I think we all get stuck in ruts sometimes.
Spoken like a true writer. This is sound advice for almost any type of writing. Love it all.
thank you so very much for the kind comments and for stopping by!
What most resonated with me is (and I paraphrase): “If you don’t have anything to say…don’t post!” Too true.
Yeah, it took me awhile to learn that one. I felt like I had to post every day or no one would come back! Little did I know my drivel was likely driving people away!
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Great to see Erin over here, and some fantastic tips!
Thank you so much, Andrea! Happy to see you here as well!
Great tips. Thank you!
And thank you for stopping by!
These are some great tips Erin!
I also believe that being true to yourself is definitely key! (-:
Thanks! I am still learning as I go along, too. Happy you came by!
Great tips! I love the do not post– it is so true!
Thanks. It took me a long time to learn that one myself….but I’m glad I finally did!
Thank you so much, Heather, for letting me share your space today! I am so excited! I hope people find these tips helpful (not that I’m some expert)!
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xoxo
There are some great tips in this post – thanks!
glad you enjoyed it and thanks for visiting!
Great tips, Erin! Thanks for sharing. Sometimes we need to be reminded to come back to the basics.
Yay, Ami! Thanks for coming by to read. And appreciate your sharing this on Twitter, too!
all wonderful tips from Amazing Erin. I’m going to take all of them to heart to make my blog a better place to visit.
Me? Amazing? No way. I’ve just learned a lot over the last couple of years—-mostly from my own mistakes and blunders!
This was great! Love how you stressed quality over quantity. So true!
Thanks, Kelley! Yep, it applies to so many things, especially blog posts. Thanks for stopping by!
Great tips from a fabulous blogger and a great excuse to find a comfy seat and spend some time reading blogs or my Kindle!
I am so behind in BlogLand myself, but I just do what I can do. Thanks so much for stopping by to read!
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Those are really great tips! I will keep those fresh as I write my post today. Thanks for the help!
And thank you for taking the time out of your day to stop by and say hello!
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Good advice Erin. The ‘youer than you’ part was funny—true, but funny. I use a quote on my work emails that says a similar message:
“It is always better to be a first-rate version of yourself rather than a second-rate version of someone else.” – Judy Garland
Great post.
Theta? As always, love what you have done here. I need to stop being such a stranger…
So glad you stopped by! I like the Judy Garland quote a lot.
Thanks for sharing. I need to work on, well, basically everything. I’m trying, honest.
I need to continue working on it all, too! Believe me, I’m nowhere near perfect and hope this post didn’t come across that way.
Great post, Erin! I love Bird by Bird. One of my go-to’s.
I think these are 10 perfect points. Bookmarking this. 😉
Yay, Missy! So thrilled to see you here! Thanks for coming by and I’m glad you liked my post.
Thanks for the great tips! As a newbie blogger, I struggle sometimes with the things I want to say and getting the words out correctly! I do believe that the more one reads– blogs, newspapers, books, magazines–they become a better writer.
yes yes yes! I read as much as I can. I’m addicted….what can I say?!? I’m excited you stopped by to read and comment. Thank you so much!
excellent advice. now if i could just start following it….
Don’t be too hard on yourself! Rome wasn’t built in a day. Or at least that’s what I tell myself!
Great tips Erin! I alwasy struggle with those short posts. I guess in part it has to do with tutorials. They really cannot be shortened. Yesterday’s post on blog design was 2500 words! I think that posts like that people bookmark and come back to, or they might even print it out. That is what I do with tutorials.
I love the challenge to steo out of posting just about the ordinary in ordinary words. Mix it up somewhere. Post about the everyday in a new light or post about the unusual or use a medium you usually do not.
Wonderful tips my friend!
The Red Dress Club has really driven home the short post idea, and I’ve decided to embrace it, but still reserve my right to ramble should I get the bug. You’ve been warned. 😉
Great points Erin!!
Love the advice… it’s all so true. For so long I would try to say more because I thought that’s what I had to do. All of a sudden one day I just realized that there should be a limit – no more than “x” number of words for “this” type of post.
Thanks so much Erin for the reminders! You are amazing.
I’m printing this and posting it in my blogspace (the corner of my room, I’ve claimed as the blog zone). Thanks for the great ideas! Never thought about posting a poem and I write poetry all the time…
Awesome tips! And I love the last one the most as I think that being yourself can cover a multitude of sins. I am not talking about being sloppy, but if you are authentic and aren’t a perfect blogger, readers will accept that.
And I love that you quoted Dr Seuss. He was awesome!
Bernice
8 reasons you may not have enough time
Great list, Erin! I have my first real guest post going live next week, and hopefully I’ve managed to encompass your tips!
As always Erin, you are awesome.
I’m still working on that short post thing. I used to write shorter, and then I somehow convinced myself that it was slacking…..so I wrote longer, and now I seemed to loose my “shortness”. Sticking to the Red Dress Club word limits the last couple of weeks has helped me a lot, though. Whew!
This was a great post. I felt like I was sitting back in my High School Composition class. But such great reminders on what quality writing really is. I think that people confuse quality and quantity too frequently. And truthfully, if someone reaches the point of posting just for the sake of posting and go weeks without any REAL content, I’m more likely to unfollow than if they take a week or two break somewhere in there.
I agree with edit, edit, edit. I tend to run a little on the long side and find that if I spend just a little time editing, I can pare down an 800 word post into 500 or 600 words.
and reading a post aloud? Can be VERY enlightening!
Love this Post! I am printing it out for my 5th grader and my mom to give to her 10 grade English writing comp class!
Great Job Erin…..
Amy
I’m so glad you said what you did about long posts! When I see one – or one that doesn’t utilize paragraphs – I think “ugh” and quite often, move on.
I like to edit in preview, so I can see it as it would appear on my blog.
Great reminders and tips.. I love Erin’s style of writing & have even asked her to proof things for me because of it. Sometimes an extra pair of eyes is just what a piece needs before hitting publish.
Great tips and reminders, especially for a newbie blogger like me! Thank so much!!
These are all excellent tips! I think I’ve improved my writing from reading other blogs.
Can I also add that long paragraphs can be very difficult to read?
Thanks so much for this! For a new blogger & old writer, these tips were very insightful. I actually had never thought about most of these and why they would be beneficial to getting followers or making quality posts. Thanks so much!
Darn it! I was just at the bookstore a couple of days ago and I knew in my heart that there was a book I’d been intending to buy, but couldn’t remember it to save myself. It was ‘Bird by Bird’. Darn, guess I just have to go back… 😉
Great advice here!
Oh Erin. This is fantastic advice. Thank you!
Erin, your list was spot-on. In my opinion, the best information of all was “Be true to yourself”. You can’t beat that.
Great post.
Excellent tips and I agree that shorter is better for posts. I have a hard time reading posts that are long.
Erin, you nailed it! Some of my pet peeves are here, as well as things I need to work on for myself. I love the chopped up blog posts, so much easier to read! And length? I’m likely to not have time to read it the first pass, and may not make it back a second time. And I am a total grammar nut!
Nice to see you over here at Heather’s place today!!
Wonderful tips Erin!
Great tips on vividness of description and on brevity. Too often I find people stretch to put in more, more, more and I eventually lose interest even if the post started off funny. You’ve got to set the hook and then reel me into the boat reasonably quick or I’ll start swimming around aimlessly to someone else’s blog.
Forgive the fishing reference, my four year old is regaling me with tales of his video-fishing prowess right now. “You love a carp, Mom?” yes, honey, I love a carp. 😉
Fantastic advice from a fantastic writer. (Always love seeing two great women come together to share great info. Hi Heather! Hi Erin!! xoxo)
Amen to these! Great job Erin!
Short? You want me to write short? *sigh*
I’ll go chop my next one into segments.
I seem to be incapable of short.
Even in comments.
Great post, lady.
I’m actually pretty sure that you are me-er than me.
You’re just as me as can be.
Thanks so much for sharing those tips Erin! As a new blogger, I need all the tips I can get! I love it!
Love the tips, Erin – they are right on! And thanks so much for the shout out for me and The Red Dress Club! xo