Terry Freedman and bookcase, which contains books he draws on for inspiration when writing. Photo by Terry Freedman.
There are not really many hard and fast “rules” of blogging as such, but here are a few thoughts based on my experience of blogging, teaching teachers about blogging and teaching a course on blogging (details of which are below).
Why would I want to start a blog?
For the love of writing. You can build up a body of work without having to try going through gatekeepers.
To promote yourself or your books/films/events.
To establish your authority in a particular field.
See also: 7 Reasons Educators Should Blog.
What can I blog about?
Whatever you like. However, I would suggest that you avoid obvious no-no’s like: libelling people, plagiarism or citing too much from something you’re writing about.
What constitutes “too much” depends on factors such as length (quoting five lines of a ten line poem amounts to fifty percent, which is a lot); copyright law, the nature of the material itself (song lyrics tend to be very heavily protected by copyright) and why you’re including the extracts (for example, in a book review you might need to use some text from the book in order to make a point. I’m not a lawyer, so if you have any doubts about whether something is OK seek proper advice. If you’re eligible, join an organisation like the UK’s Society of Authors or The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain. There are similar organisations in the USA, and, I daresay, other parts of the world as well.
Should I illustrate my blog posts?
I think so. Illustrations can help to establish the tone of a piece, and in any event breaks up the text. not many people relish the idea of reading through lots of text online.
As far as possible I try to use my own photos and drawings. If that’s not your thing, there are plenty of places online where you can obtain free-to-use graphics.
How long should blog posts be?
It depends. If you are writing for Google, that is to try and increase your blog’s chances of being discovered, then write to whatever length Google dictates at the time. Personally I prefer to write for real people, and ultimately, I suppose, I’m writing to please myself. So if I can say what I want to say in a dozen words, my blog post will be a dozen words long. But if I need 2,000 words, then that’s how long it will be.
How often should I publish blog posts?
I would say at least once a week, otherwise people might forget that your blog exists. I try to write for my blogs every weekday, or at least three or four times a week.
How do I let people know about my blog?
I think ultimately promoting your blog is a slow process. You build up trust by being active in whichever area you’re blogging in. Promoting it on social media is very useful, but you have to be consistent in your presence, and being seen to be what in literature terms would be called a “reliable narrator”.
Should I have my own domain name (like www.fredablogs.com)?
Yes. Get your own domain name, and use it as the basis for your blog. Having your own domain name means that it’s yours to keep, along with the articles on it. When you write stuff for other people’s websites, they can decide to unpublish any time they like, and then you have no record of your work. Trust me, I speak from experience.
Ever thought of starting your own blog? Writing for blogs: a taster is a two-evening online course designed to get you started. Click on the link to find out more!