Taking Your Blog Writing From Good to Great

This article was submitted by Bob Younce from The Writing Journey.

I've said it before: good writing matters online, no matter what anyone else might tell you.

There are other important parts to blogging, of course. Yeah, you've got to market your blog. You might jump into Caroline’s Stumble course, for example. Yeah, you've got to make it look pretty. Maybe you hire Harry and James to get you set up with a nice looking blog design. And, yes: you've got to figure out ways to monetize your blog, whether that's with context ads, affiliate marketing, or whatever your thing happens to be.

But taking your blog writing from good to great is something only you can do.

So, how do you do it? How do you take your writing to the next level? What's the big secret?

I think you know what I’m going to say. There isn't a big secret. At least, there's not one that you don't already know.

You take your blog writing from good to great by doing those same old things you've heard a million times over. You proofread. You read your writing out loud to see if it makes sense. You practice writing in different voices, and with different styles. You read other blogs, other websites, books, newspapers and the backs of shampoo bottles. You get a partner or a mentor to help you out. You page through grammar books for fun, and exercise your skills by correcting grammatical mistakes in the emails you receive. You learn the big mistakes, and how to avoid them. In short: you master the language.

So, if everyone already knows all of these things, why isn't there more great blog writing? It's really not that hard to understand, is it?

Taking your blog writing from good to great takes effort.

It takes dedication. It takes time. Time you might otherwise want to spend tweeting about the Beatles with Maki, or stumbling your own blog posts, or watching television. Time you might otherwise spend eating dinner with your wife and kids, or time you might otherwise spend dreaming about the bright future.

A bright future that continues to elude you, and you can't figure out why.

There are no easy paths to success, folks. Luck and skill have their roles, but at the end of the day it's hard work that is going to take your blog writing from good to great.
 
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Comments

[Bob Younce at the Writing Journey]

I'll burst open the comments here. Anyone else have other ideas about how to improve blog writing?

[Lodewijk van den Broek]

Totally! To get great in anything, you have to put in the effort. But you'd better find something you like doing, otherwise you will lose a lot of energy.

Grammar is one of my key issues, being a non-native speaker/writer myself. And semantics and idiom can be a real challenge too!

[Bob Younce at the Writing Journey]

Good point, Lo. If you don't enjoy blogging, why the hell would you do it? It's not the most rewarding career, on the average. Not that it can't be, but like i said, it requires dedication.

Biggest thing I've seen from ESL folks is sentence structure. Master that and you're golden. It varies, of course, from one original language to another. Sentence structure in French is closer to English than sentence structure in Farsi.

Just hit your site for the first time, by the way. Love it! I'm subscribing.

[Raivyn]

@ Lodewijk - Thanks for dropping by. And you're right- blogging without passion can get exhausting. I agree with Bob, too- your blog is great. I wouldn't have known English wasn't your first language if you didn't mention it!

@ Bob - Again, thank you. :)

[Bob Younce at the Writing Journey]

@ Raiv - Ya welcome. Any time. And thanks for working through me with those screwy edits!

[Lodewijk van den Broek]

Thanks guys, I think that just made me blush :)

It's great to get those kind of compliments from EFL's blogging about blogging and writing!

You both have a new subscriber too.

[Karen Swim]

Bob, this is great advice. I remember someone saying that they call it Yoga practice because you never reach perfection but practice for a lifetime. I think of writing in this way. You do it daily, sometimes badly but the only way to get better is to keep writing.

[Bob Younce at the Writing Journey]

Excellent analogy, Karen. I like it!

[patty]

I agree that having fun is key. If I don't sense a light touch coming from the blogger, then I don't read on. Quality of writing is important, of course. But, first and foremost for me, is the spirit and energy that the blogger is putting out. Bloggers who don't take themselves too seriously keep me reading (even, and perhaps especially, those who deal with serious subjects), and those who are focused on sounding clever, turn me off. When a light-hearted energy is combined with good writing skills, you've got a winner.

[BillinDetroit]

"Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect." -- V. Lombardi(?)

I keep a dictionary and a college-level grammar on my desk. I use them. When I was still a munchkin, I read the dictionary. Now I am working my long, laborious, way through the grammar.

As I work at developing my craft, I find that I am writing a better mix of sentence lengths. I am staying close to positive assertions and shedding negative comparisons. A lot of what I write still does not warrant any special attention. But every once in a while something slips through and the next time I read it I get a sense that I am reading the work of another, better, author. Then I check the by-line and grin.