What the ---- do I blog about?

What's your goal for the blog? If you're looking to increase your virtual presence and keep your readers engaged in your work, it might not be necessary to focus on a specific niche like you would if you were hoping to market it.

You say there's a million blogs that deal with the topic of writing, but honestly there's a million blogs for just about every topic. Talk about whatever you want or whatever you think your readers are interested in. If you want to blog more seriously, you can narrow your focus, set up ads, etc. Posting about the lore of your stories is a great idea.

Oh, I don't know. I originally started a blog because "writers are supposed to have a blog." But I soon began blabbing on about whatever I felt like talking about instead, and there it remains.

Fruitbat said:

Oh, I don't know. I originally started a blog because "writers are supposed to have a blog." But I soon began blabbing on about whatever I felt like talking about instead, and there it remains.

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Same here. In fact, I've found my posts that get the most feedback are the more personal ones where I write about my life, my interests, passions and frustrations. As I recall, those were also the posts I enjoyed writing the most. I guess readers can tell the difference.

So write what you enjoy writing and keep it real, as they say. Authenticity, in my experience, is more effective in connecting with readers than an expertly-crafted post that fits precisely in your chosen niche.

But perhaps that's just me ;-)

I'm also not entirely sure that even the "writers writing about writing" blog vein is entirely tapped out. I recently read "Hild" by Nicola Griffith and then happened to stumble across her blog (looking for the answer to a question about the book) ... and, wow, I basically lost two evenings to reading through her blog archives. She kept a detailed blog-diary while she was working on the book -- photos of location scouting, talking about the historical research she was doing and background on the characters, and so forth -- and I found it absolutely fascinating.

I think if readers like your books, some of them will definitely come to your website looking for more (more on the characters, the languages, the research that went into the book, etc).

Well, I started my blog to post up one story, found that I really enjoyed blogging whether anyone was reading it or not, and recently hit my blog's sixth anniversary. I blog about writing and books and the research I've done for stories mostly, but history is there and I'll rant or talk about outings I went to or shows I saw...

I suppose my answer is the not-very-helpful, "blog what you want to blog about."

I have an eclectic blog--this, that, and occasionally the other. I can honestly say I love blogging, have a decent following for an anonymous unknown, and enjoy the freedom of a space to be honest, no pressure.

Shirokirie said:

The last thing I want to ask is do I have to do it on a regular schedule? Or should I just do it when I'm up to it and trust that the posts'll build up over time?

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Having a schedule is good in that your readers will know when to look out for content, and it forces you to post regularly, but it can cause your blog to turn into a tedious slog of regular features if you're not careful. Also, sometimes life just gets in the way and then you feel guilty about not writing anything. And really, it's not as if you get paid for blogging, so it's not worth feeling guilty about.

I've recently thrown my schedule out the window and now blog when I feel like it. I try to post at least once a week, but if I don't I don't worry about it. It has been liberating.

So, try a schedule, but if it doesn't work for you, don't feel it's something you have to do.

I use my blog to express things that come to mind, and that usually involves politics, philosophy, science, or something else. It's great fun, and some of my posts have been quite popular.

After reading this thread, I did a blog post about how much writing I got done on my vacation. There, that's unstructured!

I feel the "I'm doing this because it's what you're supposed to do" sentiment. My blog started out that way, and now I just use it as a tool to keep myself writing regularly and help process my thoughts. It's kind of this weird thing for me. I don't want to write something just to keep it hidden away on my computer—I likely won't finish or it'll end up being half-assed—but writing to post to my unknown, barely read blog is enough to motivate me.

Shirokirie said:

The last thing I want to ask is do I have to do it on a regular schedule? Or should I just do it when I'm up to it and trust that the posts'll build up over time?

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I'd say do it when you're up to it. You don't want it to feel like a burden or burn yourself out from feeling tied down to a set schedule.

Like you all I write about whatever pops into my head. I do have a couple recurring themes. If you can come up with one those it helps. You'll know pretty quickly if other like it.

Last week I was introduced to http://www.portent.com/tools/title-maker
If your stuck, give that a try. You input a word and it generates a blog title for you. In any case, it might get your blog juices flowing.

I just did it an got "The oddest places you will find kittens."

Thank you for this thread! I've been having huge issues with this. My goals are to self-publish my fiction and I've also had the "every writer needs a blog to garnish a following and potential readers to buy your books" pressure, even though I'm not yet ready to publish. I've really been struggling with this because I've tried to keep blogs (personal, on topic) before and I always abandoned them because I just didn't enjoy blog writing. I am not the kind of person who can post about my personal life (the everyday things that happen are boring because I have a very uneventful life and the deeper things are not things I feel comfortable posting to the public - I would rather journal personally about them). I also came up with a topic for a blog that is only related to my writing in a very distant way and even drafted 10 blog posts about it. But I found the blog writing tedious and not very interesting and it's not a blog I think I could keep up. Plus, I don't really see how it might draw an audience and possible readers for the future.

Someone recommended to me that I start a flash fiction blog where I post some flash fiction I've written, which I'm considering (Carly, I just came across your books about writing flash fiction and your 100 flash fiction pieces on Amazon and will probably purchase them, since I know about writing longer short stories but not flash fiction). I enjoy writing shorter pieces and it just makes a lot more sense to me to keep a blog that showcases my writing style so that people might follow it because they like my style which might lead them to look at my books when I eventually publish them.

Another thing that I was thinking is to post tasters of longer short stories that I write on the blog and then offer readers to sign up for an email list to get the complete short stories.

It's great to read here what people are writing about and I admire those of you who can write about your personal life and things that interest you without feeling self-conscious about it.

I am pretty active on my personal Facebook page and belong to quite a few groups related to different topics (like writing and feminism). In addition, I have friends who are very politically active and interested in different topics (I have several who are practicing psychologists, for example) and they post a lot of links to articles and videos. Sometimes I repost them with my own comments. It occurred to me that I might start a blog that just expands on this. For example, I could put on my blog a more expanded commentary on an article or a video that one of my friends has linked to on Facebook.

I'm still exploring so I hope others post here about their blogs too. It's also helping me to look at the blogs I find in the signatures of people's posts here to see what you all are blogging about.

Also, I did find this ebook on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GWFI2FC/?tag=absowrit-20

I don't know how helpful it is, as the writers seems to be more of a business writer than a fiction writer, but it's cheap and might be useful.

Djuna

Your blog should be about whatever you want to write about. However, if you are going to do one that connects with your current and future readers you need to think a little about what and when you write.

Also about the shape of the blog. I chose WordPress.com because it lets your blog ALSO be a web site. That is, have a Home page which is the diary-like blog part, and the rest containing the rarely changing ("static" or "web site") part. That last includes a short bio, sample chapters of my books, background info about the universes in which the books exist, and etc.

I post at least once a week, no more than three times a week. Each post is short, 3-4 paragraphs, and includes a graphic which is either a JPEG or a YouTube video. Long blog entries begin in the blog part but have a CONTINUED link at the end to the complete long post (or "page" in WP labeling).

The topics are ones I enjoy and so are likely to show up in some way in my books. I reason that my readers will also share some of those interests & so will enjoy books in which they show up in some (often oblique) way.

Here are the latest blog titles. Notice it's a mix of artistic and technical and socio-political subjects, mostly sci-fi or fantasy related. Notice also that I CAPITALIZE a word or a phrase in each title. This lets readers quickly accept or reject the topic.

• MID-LEVEL tech support of intel & special forces
• KINGSMAN a fun spy spoof opens soon
• BERSA clone of Walther PPK
• A-10 WARTHOG under attack again
• Quiet revolution in AFRICA
• Scarlett Johannson’s LUCY superhero adventure available
• ORIGINATOR: A Cassandra Kresnov Novel is now available
• Marvel’s AGENT CARTER two-hour premiere
• quirky fem vigilante movie MISS MEADOWS lots of fun
• NAVY LASER GUN tests well
• Jennifer Lawrence’s HANGING TREE surprisingly touching

You think something like this is too much work? Well, the good news is that you can start small and keep your blog/web site small. Your readers will not love you if you make it a cluttered kitchen-sink mess. And when you add "improvements" see how they work out, and be ready to back out of them. Your blog is supposed to be something fun you share with your now & future readers, not a burden on your main job: creating works of creative & commercial worth.

I absolutely agree with Laer "Your blog should be about whatever you want to write about." Otherwise you'll lose interest.

There is probably a post on this forum somewhere are about things to make sure you have in a post like a catchy title and a call to action (a question or something to give visitors something to comment on).

Like Laer, I do a mix of artsy and technical posts. My early post are really short, but enough to get things rolling.

(I wanted to add that you can have static pages on Blogger too and it's a website/blog as well.)

There are many types of blogs that I've encountered

1st are the ones that seem to be financially related with the goal of either putting regular publications on line.

2nd are the intensive reporting sites that espouse particular themes such as politics and current events.

3rd are the semi-amateur sites with posts on a daily basis about items of personal preference.

And finally, there are blogs that people get to when they have time from other pursuits. As someone pointed out, blogs of a personal nature tend to draw readers of similar beliefs and goals.

In any case, a blog should be enjoyable! If you make it work, that takes all the fun out of it.

Shir thanks for putting this question up. I've been wondering what the "purpose" of a writer's blog should be: Should it be with a focus on my book(s), or a way for people to see a sampling of my writing, or...

It sounds like most AWers are saying, write what interests you and include some personal tidbits. My concerns would be
1. people wouldn't know what to expect.
2. Why would they want to follow my musings on this, that, and the other?

Obviously a factor would be the quality of my ramblings.

If content is king, what content rules them all?

Nekko said:

It sounds like most AWers are saying, write what interests you and include some personal tidbits. My concerns would be
1. people wouldn't know what to expect.

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I've never had a reader complain about not knowing what to expect (except for one who complained loudly when I cancelled a regular feature, but that's because he was the only one reading it...). I'm sure others have had such complaints, but then I've never allowed my readers to form expectations...

2. Why would they want to follow my musings on this, that, and the other?

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Voyeurism? Point is people appear to be very interested in the personal opinions and experiences of complete strangers online. We live in a sick world. SICK!

If content is king, what content rules them all?

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Figure that one out and you'll be the final boss of the internet.

Anything and everything. I've just written a blog inspired by the counter-top bell at a slightly sleazy hotel I stayed in at the weekend.

https://willonce.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/those-annoying-little-details/

In my experience, the blogs that have been most successful are the ones where you give a little part of yourself away. People are interesting, and folks like reading about people. It doesn't have to be structured or earth-shattering. Just a window into your world.

This is a really useful thread. I've been really struggling to come up with original topics for my blog! It's one of those "I feel I need to increase my web presence" types of situations, so I've been trying to come up with funkier writing posts -- but I'll do some more entries about my experiences, reading, random little things!

Nekko said:

Shir thanks for putting this question up. I've been wondering what the "purpose" of a writer's blog should be: Should it be with a focus on my book(s), or a way for people to see a sampling of my writing, or...

It sounds like most AWers are saying, write what interests you and include some personal tidbits. My concerns would be
1. people wouldn't know what to expect.
2. Why would they want to follow my musings on this, that, and the other?

Obviously a factor would be the quality of my ramblings.

If content is king, what content rules them all?

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The factor is whether it's interesting. People will read things that are interesting and reasonably wel written, even if the subject isn't what they were looking for. I have gotten a few replies telling me that the replier appreciated running into something unusual and interesting.

I just write what I feel likte writing, anything from the propagndistic side of climate change to the attempt to saw Manhattan Island in half in the early 1800's.

Thanks Neptune, Kokkie, and once! for fielding my questions. I guess the thing to do now is to start writing.

Nekko said:

Shir thanks for putting this question up. I've been wondering what the "purpose" of a writer's blog should be: Should it be with a focus on my book(s), or a way for people to see a sampling of my writing, or...

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Why "or?" Why not "and?"

There's not a living soul who's interested in one thing and one thing only. If you have diverse interests write about diverse things.

If you want to promote your writing then you've got your purpose. Nobody says it only has to be about your writing, though that's certainly a good jumping-off point.

It's your blog. Make it the way you want it to be and if that's not working for you, break it and start all over again.

Nekko said:

It sounds like most AWers are saying, write what interests you and include some personal tidbits. My concerns would be
1. people wouldn't know what to expect.
2. Why would they want to follow my musings on this, that, and the other?

Obviously a factor would be the quality of my ramblings.

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1. Why do I want to know what to expect? Wouldn't it be more interesting to not know what to expect. I often know what I want to write about right up until the time I start writing. More than once I find out I don't want to write about that at all. So I write something else instead.

2. Gee, I don't know Nekko. Why would anyone want to follow your musings about anything?

Because you have an interesting perspective and something fresh to say about it? Because you're knowledgeable and well-informed? Because your readers think you know stuff?

Nekko said:

If content is king, what content rules them all?

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Sex. Everybody likes it and anyone can market it.

If I wanted to do nothing but put slap up pics of half-naked women in come hither poses on my blog it wouldn't matter if I were breaking now the dullest details of the new treaty with Iran. I'd still get a crapload of page hits.