A fellow author recently said she was starting to blog, but what should she blog about?
I have been blogging now for over a decade. Over time, my blog has gone from random navel-gazing to a bit more purposeful content. I usually post:
How-tos. What I learned from my writing or publishing projects.
Travel journal. Where I have been and photos.
A-ha moments. On life in general. On writing. On being human.
Q&As with other authors. I write non-fiction for authors and I am doing these interviews to learn and to help other authors while building my platform.
Anything fun or poignant about me and my life. Maybe this is self-indulgent, but I use my blog as a public journal. I have turned to it so many times to pull up details, photos and dates.
I am a visual person, so I do put in photos. I try to edit them so they look their best and come across as professional, not scrapbooky. Just enough to whet the appetite but not to overwhelm.
As for videos, I am not a big fan of them, so I don’t do as much with that. Unless it is a to-the-point how-to video, I find myself moving on.
I try to avoid dark and negative themes and try to spread more positive vibes into the world.
Disclaimer: I used to be a journalist, essayist and op-ed writer, so I have a high tolerance for public consumption of my privacy. I get that blogging might not be for everyone, but I think one can still blog while setting parameters for themselves.
The key is to be yourself, to be consistent, and to keep blogging even if you think you only hear crickets. You are building content and that is good for searchability. It also builds rapport with your current and future readership.
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