Why're You Blogging - The Money or the Write?
Some wise person - or maybe many - once said that if you're taking up a writing career solely for the money, you might as well forget about it. Your writing will show this agenda indirectly and you will never accumulate or retain readers.
Obviously, this person didn't consider ultra-popular hack novelists, who can't really write but sell millions of novels anyway because they give readers what they want. This advice was given long before the Internet became public, but it applies just as much today to blogging: you have to enjoy writing and researching to be a successful blogger.
And by successful, I don't mean making loads of ad money by scraping other people's content. If you're just doing it for money, this isn't the right career for you. (But please, feel free to prove me wrong.)
If you're a blogger, why are you blogging? Were you a writer before you became a blogger? Did you have aspirations to write? Were you lured by the potential of "easy" money?
When I read the A- and B-list bloggers, whether I like what they're saying or not, I see that, first and foremost, they write clearly. They mean what they say and say what they mean. And whether or not you realize this consciously, the fact is that these successful bloggers are generally good writers whose writing targets their audience's reading preferences and level of understanding.
This doesn't mean that every word has to be grammar-perfect. And the level of writing doesn't have to be aimed at scholars. In fact, with blogs, it's quite the opposite: you almost have to write as if you are speaking. This means the odd grammatical quirk or spelling error/ typo is acceptable.
Those of you that have read my earlier posts know how crotchety I used to be about poor spelling and grammar; I've lightened up a bit - but just a bit. You still have to develop your grammar and spelling skills eventually.
(c) Copyright: 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://blogspinner.countwordula.com/
Technorati Tags: writing, blogging, writing careers, blogging careers, blogspinner
Obviously, this person didn't consider ultra-popular hack novelists, who can't really write but sell millions of novels anyway because they give readers what they want. This advice was given long before the Internet became public, but it applies just as much today to blogging: you have to enjoy writing and researching to be a successful blogger.
And by successful, I don't mean making loads of ad money by scraping other people's content. If you're just doing it for money, this isn't the right career for you. (But please, feel free to prove me wrong.)
If you're a blogger, why are you blogging? Were you a writer before you became a blogger? Did you have aspirations to write? Were you lured by the potential of "easy" money?
When I read the A- and B-list bloggers, whether I like what they're saying or not, I see that, first and foremost, they write clearly. They mean what they say and say what they mean. And whether or not you realize this consciously, the fact is that these successful bloggers are generally good writers whose writing targets their audience's reading preferences and level of understanding.
This doesn't mean that every word has to be grammar-perfect. And the level of writing doesn't have to be aimed at scholars. In fact, with blogs, it's quite the opposite: you almost have to write as if you are speaking. This means the odd grammatical quirk or spelling error/ typo is acceptable.
Those of you that have read my earlier posts know how crotchety I used to be about poor spelling and grammar; I've lightened up a bit - but just a bit. You still have to develop your grammar and spelling skills eventually.
(c) Copyright: 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://blogspinner.countwordula.com/
Technorati Tags: writing, blogging, writing careers, blogging careers, blogspinner
