There are HUGE differences between writing a story and writing a blog.
Let’s talk about what they are, and then YOU vote for a topic we’ll write a blog post about together!
During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we go over how to write a blog post
You can watch the video here to or scroll down for notes/highlights.
- Blog posts can be about anything: games, politics, reviews, science, funny cat videos, whatever
- But no matter the topic, the best blog posts usually have some things in common
- So let’s go over what those things are, to make the best blog post possible!
Step 1: Establish Your Authority on the Topic
- People don’t typically just go around looking for random opinions on topics
- If you want to write a blog post on something, you have to ask the question: why YOU?
- Whatever your answer to that question is, make it clear right away by:
- Putting your title/experience in the banner at the top
- Starting off the post with a quick bio
- Post as a part of an already established organization
Example: I want to write a blog post about… how to write blog posts! So at the top of my page, I’ll have a banner that says, “Scott Wilson, professional online editor/writer.” And of course there will be a snazzy picture of me pushing up my sunglasses with a lens flare exploding over my eye.
Step 2: Why Would Someone Read This?
- Make sure you know your audience, what they want to read, what is relatable to them
- Writing for college students is different from writing for gamers is different from writing for moms
- Here’s how my example post about “how to write a blog” might change depending on the audience I want to hit:
- College students: How to Write a Blog Post While Pretending to Take Notes During Lecture
- Gamers: How to Write a Blog Post About How Much You Hate That Game
- Moms: How to Write a Blog Post Between Changing Diapers and Crying in the Shower
- Pick the emotion you want your post to hit
- Anger: the most powerful of all click-inducing emotion
- Joy: a good runner-up, being funny is powerful too
- Surprise: the emotional jackpot if you can hit it
- Sadness/Disgust: avoid these if possible
- Interesting: NOT an emotion! Spice it up
Example: I want the audience for my post to be fiction writers who want to write non-fiction blog posts, and I want to hit the joy/funny emotion. So I’ll go with the title, “How to Write a Blog Post to Ease the Pain After Your Novel’s 93rd Rejection.”
Step 3: Write Like Fireworks
- The Squeal
- Just like the initial squeal of the firework shooting up getsonlookers’ attention…
- …get your reader’s attention with a gripping intro
- It doesn’t have to be directly related to the article’s content, it just has to be GOOD
- The Explosion
- Just like the explosion of the firework makes the onlookers’ mouths fall open…
- …make your readers do the same with the meat of your article
- Whatever your topic is, give it to the reader straightforward and powerfully, don’t dawdle
- The Sizzle
- Just like the best fireworks linger with sizzle and smoke…
- …the best blog posts finish by sizzling into other topics
- Don’t just end your blog post abruptly, touch upon its
ramifications and link to other things
Example: For my hypothetical blog post, the squeal will be writing a short scene about rejection that is relatable to the audience, which will segue into the explosion about how to write a blog post, which will finish with a sizzle of other things novel writers can do such as joining writing streams or writing short stories (which will of course have links to posts about those topics).
Step 4: Appeal to Short Attention Spans
- Always remember, you’re not writing a story, you’re not writing an essay, you’re writing a blog post
- Blog posts are typically read by people scrolling on their phones, something they click on without spending too much time thinking, so you need to appeal to that short attention span by using…
- Catchy Titles: We went over this earlier, make sure your title appeals to your audience/emotion
- Short Paragraphs: Nothing kills a blog post faster than long walls of text, break them up into 2-3 sentence paragraphs
- Bullet Points/Lists: Lists and bullet points make information easier to understand, just like this article!
- Pictures: Ideally you want to have a picture on average every 3 to 5 paragraphs, and once per main topic. They can be your own photos, copyright free images, anything to break up the text
- Links: Any time you can link to another blog post you’ve written, or you can link to a source to backup your claim, then do it!
Example: The only thing that this articles’s text is missing is pictures. The way I’d fix that is to put a picture with each of the four steps, something like this:
After going over that, chat voted that we write a blog post about this: what your astrological sign says about what murder method you should use.
You can read what we wrote here.
Be sure to check out the video for a dramatic reading, and for more examples!
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Pakutaso (1, 2)