Blogging - Be Authentic
The Rocket Scientist was at a conference this past weekend and went to a session on blogging. From what he told me, and what I saw on Twitter from others, there wasn’t a lot of good advice given. Bummer.
The thing that struck me as the worst advice was that one of the panel members said you should keep your blog to a G or PG level. To that, I say felgercarb. Oh, maybe I should update that BSG reference to frak.
Here’s what I would advise. Be authentic.
If you’re a G or PG person, or representing an entity that is so, then it’s understandable that you’d leave out the swear words and adult subject matter. That’s cool.
But, if you’re the drunken sailor type who uses frak as a verb, noun and adjective and talks about sex, drugs and rock and roll then go for the R. (The X, not so much unless you’re actually trying to promote porn.)
Because, people are going to be attracted to your writing if they feel it’s really “you”. They’ll sense your passion and sincerity and that will make your writing more enjoyable and rewarding to read. (Unless you’re a grammar illiterate then no amount of swear words or lack thereof will get people to read your work.) They’re also going to sense you’re a fake if you put up a false front.
Yep, there’s a chance you’ll turn someone off but the people who “get” you will stay. I stopped reading a blog years ago because the author kept calling everyone who disagreed with her an asshat. I don’t like the word itself that much but I really didn’t like the demeaning of others who were disagreeing, often respectfully, with her. However, that was “her” and she had a sizable following because people liked her.
Also, I can’t imagine what joy there would be in writing when you’re not allowing yourself to be yourself. That’s not to say that I don’t self-censor at times or that I don’t out myself when I’m truly horrible. But, I think you get a sense of “me” in my writing.
Perhaps if I were trying to monetize my blog or attract thousands of followers, I’d have a different view. I’d like to think not, that I would continue to believe that authenticity is key.
The thing that struck me as the worst advice was that one of the panel members said you should keep your blog to a G or PG level. To that, I say felgercarb. Oh, maybe I should update that BSG reference to frak.
Here’s what I would advise. Be authentic.
If you’re a G or PG person, or representing an entity that is so, then it’s understandable that you’d leave out the swear words and adult subject matter. That’s cool.
But, if you’re the drunken sailor type who uses frak as a verb, noun and adjective and talks about sex, drugs and rock and roll then go for the R. (The X, not so much unless you’re actually trying to promote porn.)
Because, people are going to be attracted to your writing if they feel it’s really “you”. They’ll sense your passion and sincerity and that will make your writing more enjoyable and rewarding to read. (Unless you’re a grammar illiterate then no amount of swear words or lack thereof will get people to read your work.) They’re also going to sense you’re a fake if you put up a false front.
Yep, there’s a chance you’ll turn someone off but the people who “get” you will stay. I stopped reading a blog years ago because the author kept calling everyone who disagreed with her an asshat. I don’t like the word itself that much but I really didn’t like the demeaning of others who were disagreeing, often respectfully, with her. However, that was “her” and she had a sizable following because people liked her.
Also, I can’t imagine what joy there would be in writing when you’re not allowing yourself to be yourself. That’s not to say that I don’t self-censor at times or that I don’t out myself when I’m truly horrible. But, I think you get a sense of “me” in my writing.
Perhaps if I were trying to monetize my blog or attract thousands of followers, I’d have a different view. I’d like to think not, that I would continue to believe that authenticity is key.
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