Comments on: Blog-Worthy Writing

By: Solomon

Solomon — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:14:13 +0000

HI Deb,
I’m drawn to blogs with an element of openness. But how do we do that, how do we potray that attitude, through what methods -is something not everybody’s cup of tea.
I’m for those (posts)blogs; just like this.
Solomon

By: Robert @ reason4smile

Robert @ reason4smile — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:49:31 +0000

Hi Deb, thanks for the tips. That's really great, I'm also trying to be authentic in my writing, sharing my story bit by bit, so that it won't bore my readers but eventually they will know me better as well. Thanks, Robert Robert @ reason4smile's last blog post..The most important skill you need to learn

By: --Deb

--Deb — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:18:51 +0000

The blogs that come across as pure advertising drive me nuts, and I can never understand why I would be expected to want to read them. No real substance to offset my investment of time. And, as everybody knows, time is precious! It’s part of the point about being clear and readable, too, instead of bogging people down in jargon.

By: Birney Summers

Birney Summers — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:24:14 +0000

I agree that legibility is very important.
So is the ease of reading. Most technical folks write at too high of a grade level to be an easy read.

I target a 7th grade reading level.Short words, short sentences. short paragraphs all to make it an easy read, so folks will go all the way to the end of the post.

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:23:19 +0000

Thanks Deb, this is a topic close to my heart.

Your advice is simple and straightforward – excellent. I’d like to see you do a series on how to do each of them. Giving examples and exercises. An ebook?

I think for blogging to be worthwhile it needs to avoid becoming tabloid journalism – filler between the ads. And I reserve a special circle of hell for those who think blogs should basically just be ads (who advocate copywriting – advertising writing), as the style that blogging should model itself on.

Thanks for a great post.

By: Tara

Tara — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 23:29:58 +0000

Great tips. Thanks. Tara's last blog post..Possum Goodness and A Note About Comments

By: Terry Finley

Terry Finley — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:03:15 +0000

I agree. Blog writing is different
than fictin writing, for instance.

By: JC

JC — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:41:24 +0000

Ditto that – contrast is a must. My employer’s website is grey-on-grey and completely unreadable

By: --Deb

--Deb — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:18:41 +0000

I certainly can’t argue with that! White text on a black background drives me nuts, too–it looks okay, but my eyes always feel tired after reading some of the pages out there.

By: SmallWorld

SmallWorld — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:02:53 +0000

I do have one more aspect to add, although this doesn’t exactly have to do with language but with the presentation of language–without getting too much into graphics: the font must be readable. This means, not pink, yellow, etc., and certainly not in a fancy font. I just thought of that because I finished reading this blog and then went to one that had some kind of fancy-schmantzy cursive font, and I said, “Forget about it!”