It occurs to me that about the only thing I haven’t blogged much
about is blogging.
I didn’t set out to become a blogger. I don’t keep a diary,
and any journal I have tends to get a guilty update every decade or so.
I started with a blog on a website I frequented, moved onto
an earlier version of this blog, and then started this.
I wanted to capture some of my thoughts about the journey to
becoming a writer. I wanted a place where I could measure my own progress. So
much in writing is about the next step, and the next, and not enough (at least
in my world) is about stopping to look back. The blog gave me room to do that.
What it was never intended to be was anything other than a
place for musings. In recent months, I’ve become more aware that what I’m
raving about gets read. Quite a lot these days. That, for a few weeks, made me
freeze and look at the screen. I had to be clever. I had to come up with
something show-stopping. I had people’s expectations to fill.
And then it occurred to me that I never wanted to write a
blog for anyone other than myself, and I should probably keep going as I was. At
which point, I thought I’d capture some of the pros and cons about keeping a
blog.
It’s
not a great sales tool. I get a lot of writers – I’ve blogged about this
before (see! Everything except blogging…) – who ask me how to promote
themselves. It always confuses me as I don’t see much of what I do as
active promotion, so much as an inability to say no. Anyhow, one of the
first things new writers often do is set up a blog, as if a blog is the
fast-track to being noticed.
It’s really, really not. As a sales tool, it’s rubbish. Most
people will spend an hour, maybe more, writing a blog post. In the beginning,
perhaps five people will read it. Maybe less. I’d advise that writer to go and
find some short story platforms, and get something published.
It’s not only a poor sales tool because of the time-outcome
imbalance. It’s poor because selling is not what a blog is for. No one will
come back to listen to someone trying to sell their book* – although they might
enjoy a blogpost that’s thoughtful and includes your themes, or expands on your
world.
*(I’ve noticed this more and more in the last few weeks, and
it might be a growing sensitivity in me: if you want me to buy your book, don’t
suggest I should. Really. Sure, tell me about it – in the appropriate place –
and share your great reviews. I want to know you have a product. But I don’t
want to feel guilty because it isn’t my sort of thing and I don’t buy it. And
ditto, right back at me. If you’re not into space and aliens, that’s absolutely
fine.)
So, really, really, really – if you want to use a blog to
create sales, forget it. Too much effort, too much time, too few sales.
But
what about using it as a platform!
This seems to be the key reason why many writers want a blog
and, to be fair, I find mine useful for this. Somewhere to plonk up random
musings, somewhere I can be voicey and not care too much about grammar (because
me and blogs and grammar don’t have a good history – this is me, in my voice,
with all my horrid ands and buts at the start of sentences.)
Is it a platform? It’s a component of what makes up Jo
Zebedee, writer, for sure. But it’s only one component and, frankly, it’s the
one I do because I enjoy it and not to increase exposure.
So, sure, use a blog as a platform, if – and this is a very
big if – you enjoy the process.
A non-updated blog is worse than none at all.
Honestly.
If you’re going to use a blog as any part of your platform, it needs to be
updated. I go for once a week now – at one point, I did more. Once a week is
nice for me. It gives me time to come up with something, it’s become part of my
routine. It works and, if I ever have the need for an additional rant, I can
pop in an extra blog without becoming so saturated that people groan. (She
said, hopefully…)
But, also - keep it relevant to the people who are likely to read it (in my case, other writers and, possibly, a few readers of my book. And my mum. (Hi, Mum!) If you want to blog about your goldfish hobby as well, start another blog.
If
you write fast, go for it.There is a place for blogs which are
scholarly or beautifully thought out. There is absolutely a following for
such blogs – and I read many myself.
But, I think that sort of blog might be for people who are
using the blog as a key part of whatever process it feeds into – academics,
specialists, those who are selling their knowledge.
For me, to spend hours on a blog (I’ve spent twenty minutes
on this) would be to take me away from what I do actually want to spend hours
on: writing.
If you’re the sort of writer who likes things just so, who
pores over every sentence and would hate something unpolished to see the day, I
genuinely think you’ll find blogging a draining process. (But, of course, each
to their own and all that there and I’m fully prepared to be shot down on
that.)
Ditto: length. I find the optimum length the 500-1000 words.
Enough for it to be worthwhile to click, not so much people lose the will to
live when reading it. I think it’s like going to the supermarket – you kind of
know when you’ve reached the wall.
Promote
it. If you’re using it as a platform, if you’re wanting to share your
thoughts in any way, some promotion is key. I don’t get excited – I pop a
link up on Facebook, twitter and a couple of writing sites. I don’t keep
retweeting the link - but it’s nice if the odd person does so and keeps it
active for a wee while.
A few weeks ago, I read some research that said to send out
between 7-9 in the evening, which is a pain as that’s when I like to chill out
and relax. Anyhow, in the name of research I tried it and that blog relatively
bombed on its first day. It’s possible to apply too much science to this sort
of thing. And that’s not why I’m writing a blog.
So, blogging. Fun, sure. An addition to a platform,
possibly. Useful to sell books? No. Blog because you want to, not because you
have to.
Anyhow, if I've enticed you to find out more about me, my website is www.jozebwrites.com, and it's all shiny and newly updated this week.
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