Blog Faux Pas
Posted in Dusting the Historian's Library on 07/15/2010 12:33 am by Ronnica
I have tried to keep from writing this post as it’s a common topic in the blogosphere and I have addressed the subject myself.
But I simply can’t keep my mouth shut any longer. I’ve read one too many blog posts that are cringe-worthy. (And because I know you will ask, it’s none of you all who come by my blog regularly!)
Can I humbly give some blog-writing tips? We’re all growing, so I have a lot to learn still, too.
Here are some major problems I’ve seen:
1. Blog posts that read like a middle-school diary. Sure, blogging is informal writing (thankfully!), but it still should have structure and editing. EDITING. Re-read what you write (probably multiple times). I usually re-read a paragraph/sentence after I write it and then re-read the whole post until it seems just right. (Overuse of exclamation points would fall under this category, too.)
2. Posts that contain overused phrases, especially several of them. These tend to be more natural in spoken language, but are more annoying written.
3. Posts that are too long. I know that I’m unusually short (both in stature and in blog-post length, but lets focus on that last one, k?). I’m not saying everyone should be as short as me. But very few bloggers can pull off long posts (Heather is the only one I can think of right now…and look how she still uses paragraphing and pictures to break up her posts). When I see them in my Google Reader, I skip them. Maybe they were interesting, but I’ll never know. VERY few subjects require posts over 500 words (your plan for solving world hunger, maybe). If it’s still longer than that after extensive editing, think of a way to make it a two-parter, or maybe even a series.
4. Posts lacking paragraphing. Follow your newspaper’s example: each paragraph should be 1-3 sentences long. Forget what your English teacher told you about the 5-sentence paragraph or whatever it was (hey, I just want to be a math teacher). Internet readers skim, so if you don’t make it easy for them, they’ll skip instead. Using bolding/bullets allows you to write longer paragraphs, if necessary.
5. Obvious grammatical and spelling errors. I’m not referring to split infinitives and using “who” instead of “whom.” I’m talking about its/it’s, they’re/there/their, and spelling errors that spell check should be pointing out to you. If your browser doesn’t spell check what you write, use the spell check in your blogging software. And re-read to catch the grammar issues.
For the most part, these are simple things that can improve your writing by a whole letter grade. All these things distract your reader from what you’re actually trying to say.
Photo by Nic’s events
Since I’ve been doing a little reading lately (like my use of understatement there?), I’ve been thinking about what makes a book good.









