Teaching Blogging to Writers

September 1, 2006 11:00 AM

OK, I'm teaching a 3-hour seminar on blogging--to be specific, it's not about the technical aspect, but for writers hoping to use a blog to promote and enhance their own writing. What should I be sure to touch upon?

I'm working on my outline for the course and what to say on each topic but I want to make sure I don't miss anything. Based on your own writing blogs or the great ones out there, are there any topics or tips I should be sure to include? I'm nervous as hell! I could probably impart all this information easily IN a blog post, but faccia-a-faccia is freaking me out.

Here is the description of the course:

In this seminar, you will learn about:

* How to come up with blog material
* What writing works best for your blog vs. freelancing/short stories
* Building an audience and promoting your blog
* Not letting your blog run your life
* Using your blog to brand yourself and your writing
* The community of blogging: links, comments and real life


Many thanks in advance!

posted by clairezulkey to writing & language (8 comments total)

If this is in the context of building a writing career, give them a clear picture of what the blog can and can't do for them, especially with regards to debunking romantic notions of the results of "promoting your writing." e.g. Editors are not going around "discovering" writers like talent scouts (they almost certainly have as many excellent writers as they can deal with already coming to them). Maybe a publisher would approach you if you've developed a huge audience that they want to take advantage of, but contracts don't materialize just because your writing on your blog is good.
posted by winston at 11:09 AM on September 1, 2006

While keeping in mind that a blog shouldn't run your life, the idea of posting consistent content on a regular basis should be hammered home. It's helped me with deadlines at work and in my writing stuff more than once, as I have made it a habit to write.
posted by beaucoupkevin at 11:12 AM on September 1, 2006

possibly..
- finding other good blogs (blogrolls, social bookmarking, etc)
- possibility of a group blog?
- a little history of early blogging
posted by ejaned8 at 11:19 AM on September 1, 2006

I talk about blogging to librarians and I find that the best thing to talk about, in addition to your list which is excellent, is the "this is an example in action" There are nowhere near as many writer bloggers as, imho, there shoudld be and it would be good to see more writers spending a little bit of time doing it. On the other hand, it can become all-consuming and so it's important to find a blog purpose and keep with it.

For some people this is giving out chapters and fan management, for some it's talking about the craft while they're not doing it, for some it's writing every day, for some it's staying in touch with a genre community [LOTS of YA authors on livejournal, for example]. So, having some examples of writers using blogs to good ends, maybe different ends, i think would really suck people in. A few examples I can think of

- Neil Gaiman
- William Gibson
- John Scalzi
- Barbara Klaser

Some other tips here and a NYT article here that you may want to peek at, but it sounds like you've got it all covered. I think the biggest difference between what writers do and what bloggers do is what you have in your last point about the community and commenting etc. Expecting comments, and possibly interacting with other writers, readers or whomever through comments is really a big part of it.You might also want to show them the instant gratification of checking stats ["oh, 30 people read my new chapter this week!"] which can be good for authors and also good for publsihers.
posted by jessamyn at 12:31 PM on September 1, 2006

Although you aren't covering the technical aspects it might be an idea to be prepared for questions and have a handout/web page you can point to in order to move on the writing aspect.

A couple of things I wish I'd known:

Don't add links to your blogrolll immediately - read sites via feed (e.g. Bloglines) for a while and then decide whether or not to add them - it's quite hard to delink someone when you find that their content isn't what you thought it was.

Get a domain name. Even if you don't immediately pay for hosting it allows you to start off with a free or hosted service (Blogger, Blogsome, TypePad, et al) but be able to switch platforms without needing to ask readers to update their links etc.

Good luck!
posted by ceri richard at 12:40 PM on September 1, 2006

Some ideas:

* Blogs as rough drafts vs. the importance of revising finished prose, and the expectations of the community of readers

* What to give away - you can't copyright an idea, only its presentation, so show good sense in that regard and keep some stuff close to your vest

* The psychological value of free material vs. cheap - does price create value? Is the difference between $0 and $1 bigger than that between $1 and $2?

* Community of blogs as dialogue - the importance of linking, addressing other writers, exposing your writing to a wider audience by becoming part of it

* Blogs as support group, the importance of commenting on other people's writing and contributing positively to the community

* Etiquette of writing to other bloggers personally, e.g. high-traffic sites, and what certain communities' expectations are in terms of linkwhoring and so forth

* The dangers of that kind of unreflective writing when your primary work is considered prose - e.g. William Gibson quit blogging while working on a novel, as it interfered with his writerly rhythm

* Blogging is work that looks like play - will expand to fit the available time - strategies of time-management for creative work

* Blogging is not advertising - a blog has to give original content, create value not available elsewhere (or be perceived to like e.g. Instapundit) to be liked

* Dealing with commenters

Here's an excellent blog by a successful writer: Jane Espenson (of Buffy and elsewhere). It's a TV-screenwriting craft blog, personal and chatty and rock-solid with advice. She immediately drew a lot of traffic on name recognition alone, but I suspect her heavy doses of practical advice have brought in a lot of new readers in addition to the regular fans.

etc.
posted by waxbanks at 12:59 PM on September 1, 2006

I love the Renegade Writer blog (Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell). It always seems so positive on top of all the helpful hints. It's so easy to complain about what isn't working in the biz that it's a pleasure to read a blog that is useful, humorous in all the right places, and that doesn't devolve into poor-me rants.

(Because.... if you're a writer and "misunderstood" -- guess what -- you're one of, oh, about 20 million others in the U.S. Read your writers' guidelines carefully and take your medication.)
posted by mdiskin at 8:52 PM on September 1, 2006

One of the non-technical points I would take about is the process of story development for a blog post. Specifically, the immediacy and ease of posting a story can result in posting prematurely, that is, before the story is fully developed.

I write stories on my blog and I subscribe to my 24 hour rule. Since I'm not usually writing about time-based and newsworthy events I like the writing to percolate a bit. My 24 hour rule isn't locked in at 24 hours. But, like any creative writing, I find that after I've written a first draft, I can let it sit for a while (which, in reality can be a few hours to a few days).

When I come back to it, grammar corrections become more obvious and new ideas for particular sections come to mind (I often get these second level additions while showering the next day so I keep a pad and pencil in the bathroom to jot it down before I forget).

A small technical point: I'd strongly suggest that people write their posts "offline," that is, don't write directly into a blog CMS. Write it locally so you have a copy just in case something happens (I've known a few bloggers who have lost hours of work because they composed directly to their online systems).
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 5:45 AM on September 3, 2006