Unless you are strictly a photo blogger, it's likely you will be composing some sort of text in your post. Are you going to be a more verbose blogger, or are you going to let your photos do the talking? What kind of voice are you going to take? Colloquial, as Vintage Virgin does-- or more poetic, such as the way Rebecca from The Clothes Horse composes her posts? I like to write my posts in a very accessible way, very much the way I talk. I think this makes my blog a little bit more personal and helps my readers to get to know me more.
Take time to consider what you want to write about in your posts. Will you write about what's going on in your life? If so, how much are you comfortable revealing to the wide world of the internet? It takes some balls to put yourself out there with honesty, so be prepared for the occasional mean comment, it's the price you have to pay for broadcasting your life on the web. Just remember that the haters aren't the people who matter! They've made a conscious decision to bring negativity into the world instead of bringing a positive attitude. Plus, you have exponentially more people who give you positive comments. Focus on that!
Don't let it scare you from being genuine though. Bring your voice to the blogging community because no one has your voice, it is 100% yours. If you look around the proverbial blogging room and feel like you have nothing unique to offer, just think about how you are totally unique. There is no other blogger (or human being, for that matter) who can be you- who can say things the way you do, who has the life experience you have, who has the same creativity as you do. That's important! Never forget it.
Take some time to think about your limits. Will you swear on your blog? Will you talk about loved ones and friends? Will you post about your faith or politics? Will you talk about being a vegetarian or vegan?
Another thing to remember about writing online is that you don't have your tone of voice, inflection, or body language to help people understand you. All you have is text and photos, so make sure what you write comes across as clearly as possible, especially if you're trying to write about something important or controversial. Misunderstanding can happen easily on the internet simply because you don't have those physical and verbal cues to aid in understanding. Learn to communicate yourself accurately and effectively through your writing. This is kind of a learn-by-trial-and-error process. If it seems like people are frequently missing your point, not getting out of your post what you meant for them to get out of it, or taking what you're saying the wrong way, you may want to evaluate your writing and try to work on communicating better through writing.
Most important: be yourself. Don't write like another blogger just because you think that writing like them will get you lots of followers like them. Be you. Be confident enough in yourself that you don't have to emulate someone else for people to like you!
Most important: be yourself. Don't write like another blogger just because you think that writing like them will get you lots of followers like them. Be you. Be confident enough in yourself that you don't have to emulate someone else for people to like you!
