What To Blog About?

What kinds of things would readers of YA-scifi be interested in? (I don't know because sci-fi, doesn't really appeal to me. Dr. Who may just pull me in though. ) But it seems like there could be some fun, creative things you could do with that.

That is the audience you should try to target with your blog. What would be the point in targeting other writers who may or may not like sci-fi, or YA?

Good luck!

Blog about whatever is interesting to you--keeping in mind the same as you do when writing fiction, you want others to be engaged, also.

Do you have any blogs that you enjoy? Follow?

Blogs don't have to be deep or informative, they can be fun, humorous, anything you'd like.

Listen to ap123. She knows.

I started a blog, too. Thinking I should, if I'm serious about writing but yeah, there have been times I've experienced the same concerns you have.

Somebody gave me great advice once. Write what you want to, only when you want to, she said. And don't sweat it on the days you don't.

A blog needn't be something one is obligated to add to. It doesn't have to be a source of stress. It can be a great source of comfort, a validation, a venue for posing questions or commenting on something others are discussing. It's a great way to meet new people, make new connections. I think it's good to step out of one's comfort zone and try something new, what's the worst that can happen? Do it for you, do it because you are ready to grow as a writer, take a chance, thicken your skin a bit.

Remember, everybody has a story to tell, in their own time and in their own words. Your stories and words are unique to you, J. Whatever you decide to do, good luck to you.

A lot of the pressure of blogging goes away if you you write about what you want to write about.

The best thing to blog about is something you are already interested in. Otherwise, its going to be hard to keep writing 2 or 3 blog posts a week.

Having said that, I think you have the perfect topic to blog about. Blog about your book writing process, (I know I would be interested in reading a blog like that). Essentially, your blog posts would cover everything from the conception to the completion of your book.

Add short snippets, or a chapter or two from your book, onto your blog as well. That way your blog followers can get a taste of what is to come, (once you publish your book in a years time).

On the other hand, you have to ask yourself a couple of questions. Does the world need another writer's blog? Is writing one the best use of your time?

Despite how the questions are couched, the answers aren't necessarily "No." I started a blog almost two years ago and it's gained quite a decent following, despite my erratic posting schedule. I've also enjoyed it and met lots of new people. But its efficacy in actually promoting book sales is unproven to say the least, and it does eat up writing time that could go to your books. So think twice, or even three times before leaping.

What do you do for a living? What are your hobbies?

TBH, I probably should be writing a cooking blog. Until I started writing fiction and got back into reading it in conjunction with doing so, about 80% of my pleasure was food science, cooking, or otherwise food related (for 20 years).

Not sure how well recipes replete with F-bombs would go over, though.

JFitchett92 said:

I don't have a lot to blog about.

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Yes you do. It's in your sig line. Why not begin by blogging about how your training is going for the walk you want to do around the Isle of Wight in August in memory of your brother, Thomas. In August you can tell everyone how it went (with pics if possible)

Photos are great additions to blogs and some bloggers have days in which that's all they post - pictures of things they find interesting or inspiring or odd.

I haven't blogged in a while as life has really gotten in the way but my most viewed posts are research material I've already gathered for the historical I'm writing. You must have learned or invented a few fun things for your novel so share some of that.

JFitchett92 said:

I don't feel that I am adept enough as a writer to start providing tutorials or professional advice and my book is about a year from completion so I can't start marketing it yet.

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Blogs that exist merely to promote an author's book(s) generally suck anyway. Same for advice blogs, writing blogs, etc. Seems like everybody's a pro these days, and it's fucking nauseating. So maybe it's a good thing you can't go this route.

We're voyeurs, all of us in blogger-land. What is interesting is not your marketing strategy, your price points, but your life, what you think and feel and do.

MookyMcD said:

Not sure how well recipes replete with F-bombs would go over, though.

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Epic Meal Time does just fine. And Gordon effin' Ramsay. 'Course, their f-bombs are bleeped out.

Hmmmm. I was kinda in the same boat. My problem is actually no Internet at home. And I can't be blogging while at work. My evenings are packed. But I'm going to try and post a blog every Saturday or Sunday night since I accompany my sister at her job where there is wifi. And reading the replies if others has given me new insight.

It's most important to write what you care about. If you write about things like recipes, or crafts, or writing, you need to do so with your own spin which means your own personal experience, heart, gut, blood, wisdom-hard-won, painful uncertainties, etc.

And, humor. If you can write humor, genuine humor, you're going to find readers.

Chuck Wendig is outrageously successful with his blog; he doesn't hold back.

A couple of non-writing blogs I follow are Garden Rant, and Dangerous Harvests. Garden Rant is about gardening, ha, but the writers (it's a group blog) are all quite adept at coming from a genuine, heartfelt level of their own experience. It is never dry. Dangerous Harvests is a Buddhist/Yoga blog, and the writer almost always draws from his life.

Writing your pain is one of the main things that brings readers. It's odd, but it is true. I think perhaps it's because pain is pretty much unacceptable in polite conversation, yet we all experience it and nobody really has a grasp of what it is or how to deal with it, so it's something of a relief to experience its sharing.

That's my current theory, anyway.

But, look at what you like to read, at what does not bore you. Write and blog like that.

Your web site can have both a blog, which is oft-changing stuff, and static stuff. I put chapter excerpts, articles, and so on in on the latter.

I keep the blog posts short so that readers can see an easily browsed “silo” of my recent posts. Longer posts may start in the blog part and continue in the static section. That way you get the best of both worlds, changing and unchanging.

I write about subjects which interest me deeply and so are likely to be enjoyed by my readers, who likely are interested in the some of the same subjects.

For instance, I’m an aerospace engineer involved in the absolute cutting edge of the field. I post about recent advances, usually a short post with an intro with a link to a magazine or news article published elsewhere. An announcement of a new TV show or movie may go in a post. I also announce SF/F books which just came to my attention, sometimes with a link to a review and ALWAYS with links to where readers can buy them.

I always try to include a small-to-medium sized graphic at the end of the post. I believe they make the post more interesting. The graphic can be one I created (I’m an artist as well as engineer). It can also be one someone else created, ALWAYS with a link to that artist's web page or other place where their work can be seen and maybe bought.

The graphic can also be a link to a YouTube video. This shows up in your post as the first key frame of the video. New movies & TV shows are always announced nowadays by trailers on YouTube. Clicking the image will show the video in your post or (preferably) on YouTube. This latter practice means YT and not your host site gets a performance hit. YT is set up for such hits; your host may not be.

I always post in my blog at least once a week but never more than three (and always short) entries. That way I keep in my readers’ mind but not annoy them with what will soon become to seem like spam even if it technically is not.

Don't worry about frequency

Maybe some of these will inspire you:

1. Review books
2. Discuss your process of writing - highs and lows.
3. Give little peaks into what you are writing.
4. What inspired you to write?
5. Grab interesting ideas from other blogs. Put your twist on them.
6. Respond to what others say.

Write at whatever frequency is comfortable for you. Leverage you social media contacts to get readers for your blog.

I spend so much time ghostwriting blogs for others, that I seldom have time to update my own blog. However, it serves me well as a place where prospective clients can come and learn a little more about me.

We're in the same boat. I've been thinking of creating a blog, but have no real clue what I would write about. I'm very elclectic in my tastes, scifi, horror, sewing, fantasy, Indian food, history etc. Not sure I could narrow the topic down enough for it to be coherent. Which is why I'm still thinking instead of started one already.

Over the last ten years I've started and eventually failed to continue countless blogs and vlogs. Mostly it was because of the lack of resources as a few people mentioned. Also, I felt like a lot of what I was saying was just a repeat from the previous post and that no one was interested.

The reason I got back into it was because of a piece of advice Steve Hofstetter gave to an aspiring comedian on a podcast. The way he writes jokes is that he just writes about what's important to him. He doesn't write the actual joke, he just starts typing and he garners the humor from what he writes.

So if for no other reason than to get some ideas, starting and trying to maintain a blog might just be worth the effort.

I started my blog just to post up a story I was writing because I wanted my friends to see it in the same place and maybe leave comments on it in a central place. The story wasn't that great, but I found that I enjoyed having a blog to talk about writing stuff, whatever I was reading, to rant to my heart's content (and sometimes, people drop by and commiserate!), and to write about different adventures--new places, food, theater or concerts I've been to.

I've stuck to that--it's mostly about writing or bits of research I've done for my book--but I've posted about many, many topics. I kind of felt that it was scattered and didn't have a focus, but one of my friends pointed out that it's actually a lot more focused than I think it is but that it's varied enough that it doesn't, hopefully, get boring. And hopefully, it sounds like a real person behind the blog and not just an advice-dispensing blogger.

originally in my blog, i started writing information that i found elsewhere that could help new authors.... I learned how to publish ebooks, so i blogged it.. i got createspace then acx for the audiobooks.. blogged it. But i soon realized that my blog was full of writers, not necessarily readers... which meant that i was getting NOTHING in sales. so i recently changed my site, and there is a blog on the site... so i intend to post things that will attract readers.. not writers (no offense, but y'all are spending ur money to get promoted, so you want be giving me yours lol).

My problem??? Time constraints. Truly. but it will work out.

and never say you're not interesting... look at how many people thought you interesting enough to respond to!

RhodaD'Ettore said:

and never say you're not interesting... look at how many people thought you interesting enough to respond to!

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That's a great point. I find myself thinking this exact thing. What have I done in my life that will encourage other people to click on anything I've written?

We too easily fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. Sometimes others push you into that trap by hearing the things we've gone through and undervaluing the experience by trying to "one up" you.

You'd be surprised how many people come through my line at work and I think, "Wow. How come you didn't write a book?" And it's because of things that they didn't think were important at the time.

I agree with the others--write about things you are interested in. If you try and force a theme upon yourself your writing is going to sound strained, and that doesn't come off well with readers. The "thing to do" these days seems to be blogging about writing advice. While there's some great advice out there, a lot of sites are starting to sound forced/contrived simply to get a following.

I disagree with Barbara R for one reason: if you want to write a blog, it's a free world, write one! Who cares if it's "another writer's blog" if it's something that is making you happy? If you are writing this for you then the amount of other blogs out there doesn't matter, because it's something you're doing for you or to benefit you. Loads of people do yoga. Does that mean you shouldn't do it just because there are al ready "too many people who do yoga" in the world? We don't live in a capped world where only so many people can write a blog before we turn Blogger.com off for public use.

What about a Sci-Fi blog? If you're writing about YA Sci-Fi, it must interest you, yeah?

In summary, pick something you like and have fun.