Blogging Tips: Is Less Really More? by Annmarie Miles
Please welcome monthly columnist, Irish writer, Annmarie Miles. She write about blogging tips and her writer’s adventures in her monthly column. Enjoy her ideas and her humor!
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I love a good book. If I’m all comfy and curled up with a novel (or my kindle) I could get through quite a few chapters in one sitting. But when I’m at my computer surfing the net (is that an outdated phrase?) I’m in a different frame of mind. If I’m blog-hopping & catching up on some of the blogs I follow, I tend not to stay anywhere too long.
Even though for many folk their e-reader and tablet computer are one and the same, reading novels is a different experience to reading blog posts. As bloggers we should try to make our point, make it in an interesting and informed way and then… stop typing! 🙂
Your blog is not the place for your novel. Well, not all of it!
For those of you who are authors who blog (or bloggers who write books), your blog isn’t the place for your novel. It’s ok to share a few chapters to excite the interest of folk, but your blog has a different purpose.
Your blog is a great place to introduce people to your characters and plot. You can maybe add some background info to your setting. You can gauge responses and interaction from these posts. There might be one aspect of your novel that you share and it garners great reaction. You’ll know you’ve stumbled upon a little gem there. The trick is to give not one more ounce of info on that topic. They’ll have to wait for your book.
Your blog also is a great place for sharing the writing experience. If you’ve wrestled with a chapter or a plot development, a few hundred words on the frustration and maybe even the resolution of the problem would make an interesting post.
But what ever you do – don’t let it drag on too long!
So how long is too long?
Think of your blog post like a newspaper article. Most newspapers will have a maximum of 4 stories on one page, but very often it’s only one or two. The rest of the space is taken up with pictures, ads and side bar comments, etc.
Typically a standard length blog post is 500 to 750 words. It can be shorter, but you don’t want your blog to look like a Twitter feed, so make the content count.
Brevity is very rarely the problem though! It’s hard work getting your point across well, in a short word count!
It is much easier to ramble on and on and on and eventually get to the point, just using words that you don’t need to use because they are completely superfluous and anyway, the other problem this leads to is that you end up with a sentence that is far too long and by the time your reader has reached the end of it they’ve forgotten what the start of it was about.
Get my drift? 🙂
By all means write blog posts of 2,000 words if you like! But don’t publish them until you have edited them down to less than half of that. With practise you’ll learn the art of saying in 10 words, what you used to say in 20. And your readers will thank you for it – and come back for more!
And more is what you want, right? More readers, more views, more comments?
Why not try giving them less 🙂
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About the Author
Annmarie Miles is 40 yrs old, Irish, Christian, married, and proud to be all of those things. She loves words, music & chocolate! She mostly writes about the things that life has thrown at her and how she has tried to learn, love and laugh at it all along the way!
Where to find Annmarie: Email: auntyamo@gmail.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/amowriting
Google+ auntyamo
Twitter: @auntyamo
Personal Blog: www.auntyamo.wordpress.com
Fiction Blog: www.ficticiousamo.wordpress.com
As a new blogger and an older artist writer, I am glad for the words of focus on blog length. Having browsed a hundred blogs in the last two months I find myself clicking out rather quickly if there is no point to the story right at the start.
I’m from the old school too, a child of the 40s and 50s, so I don’t think in terms of cut to the chase. More it is just don’t waist my time at my age. So thank you for more or less, that less can be more.
http://storydoors.com
John
I just created my two longest posts in the last week. The length seems to have hidden the gem. The number of responses and the hoped for action from readers is a bummer.
So, here is another stab at it: The mission of the Synergy Sessions webinar series is the strengthen connection. If you accept the invitation to co-create this venture, there are two intended outcomes:
1. You spotlight what you can do as an individual coach, blogger, business owner, social media mastermind, or as a fellow human being with some of our greatest challenges in life.
2. You co-create with others looking to make a difference. When we work together, the “whole” of our effort is greater than the sum of our efforts as “parts.”
One hour or less. One open mic at a time to address the topic in a few minutes until everyone has responded.
You are invited Annmarie!
There are posts on the UBC Facebook page with more info, including the link to register for the Sunday 9 PM (edt) webinar.
Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for theses tips. I do wonder what and how much to put on my blog of my current work in progress and backstories of my characters.
John, I hope Annmarie did not waste your time!
Donovan, I forwarded your comment to Annmarie, so she’ll see it. What’s missing for me in your message is who it helps and how. I like the concept (as I’ve mentioned on your blog) but you’re not targeting your conversation toward an audience to help them solve a specific problem. I do love the idea of connecting with others, though, so keep up the good work!
Charlotte, Many people recommend, and I do too, to just put a little of your work in progress if you’re self-publishing. If you’re going after traditional publishing, don’t share any of your work, at least not until it makes strategic marketing sense. My 2-cents!
Annmarie will comment as soon as she can!
Hi folks
sorry it has taken me a few days to get back – been a crazy week! 🙂
Thanks so much for the comments.
John that is such a great point! It’s not just about keeping it short, it’s about keeping your reader’s interest!
Thanks Donovan. The last thing we want is to lose the gem in the dross! 😉 I’ll be sure to check the FB page.
Charlotte it can be a fine line between exciting interest in your story and a spoiler!
I think the trick is to hide the ‘key question’ within your post. What is it that you want the reader to ask of your character/storyline.
Then what ever you do… don’t answer that question anywhere else other than in your book!
Thanks again guys, A
I always keep it brief in the House of Dreams – because as a reader I prefer blogs which make a brief point well, and avoid ones that waffle