jon
CibbuanoWhat Makes a Good Blog?
August 22nd 2008 23:56
Orble has been up and running for several years now, and there's been quite a lot of good writing to come out of it, as well as a sense of community, sometimes tumultuous.
What makes for a good blog? It seems like an easy answer: a good blog is one that people want to read.
Well, notable blogger Merlin Mann has an interesting article on good blogs.... as the blogging industry has matured, it seems like there's fewer and fewer gems to read. Or are there more, but they're lost in the chaff?
What Makes a Good Blog on 43 Folders
I'll just list Merlin's points here, with my own comments:
Good blogs have a voice
They sure do - it's not an easy thing to do without writing for a long time. It's easy to fall back on the easy solution of writing formally, but with no spirit.
Good blogs reflect focused obsessions.
I can understand Merlin's point, even if I don't think it's necessarily true. Bloggers that are extremely knowledgeable about a field, or are just weirdly obsessed with it make for good stuff. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm obsessed with anything other than lounging around.
Good blog posts are made of paragraphs.
Please use paragraphs. My eyes hurt reading continual unbroken text.
Good blogs make you want to start your own blog.
This is almost the golden rule... readers should be so thrilled to read your work, so energized that they'd want to try to emulate you. On a personal note, as I've read reviews and essays by Roger Ebert, Pauline Kael and David Denby (though they're not bloggers - well, Ebert is), it made me want to clean up my messy writing and try a little harder.
Merlin's got more points on his post, so I strongly recommend that you read it! He's a fun blogger in his own right, and used to do a great GTD podcast. Er, that's Getting Things Done.
What makes for a good blog? It seems like an easy answer: a good blog is one that people want to read.
Well, notable blogger Merlin Mann has an interesting article on good blogs.... as the blogging industry has matured, it seems like there's fewer and fewer gems to read. Or are there more, but they're lost in the chaff?
What Makes a Good Blog on 43 Folders
I'll just list Merlin's points here, with my own comments:
Good blogs have a voice
They sure do - it's not an easy thing to do without writing for a long time. It's easy to fall back on the easy solution of writing formally, but with no spirit.
Good blogs reflect focused obsessions.
I can understand Merlin's point, even if I don't think it's necessarily true. Bloggers that are extremely knowledgeable about a field, or are just weirdly obsessed with it make for good stuff. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm obsessed with anything other than lounging around.
Good blog posts are made of paragraphs.
Please use paragraphs. My eyes hurt reading continual unbroken text.
Good blogs make you want to start your own blog.
This is almost the golden rule... readers should be so thrilled to read your work, so energized that they'd want to try to emulate you. On a personal note, as I've read reviews and essays by Roger Ebert, Pauline Kael and David Denby (though they're not bloggers - well, Ebert is), it made me want to clean up my messy writing and try a little harder.
Merlin's got more points on his post, so I strongly recommend that you read it! He's a fun blogger in his own right, and used to do a great GTD podcast. Er, that's Getting Things Done.
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Comment by Chris Champion
moneywhither
Vyoos
Zoomies
Bloggercises
NewlyOld
The Blog of Lists
There are writing lessons everywhere.
If he'd written "Good blogs reflect focused passions" there would be no problem. "Obsessions" has a negative connotation; "passions" has a positive connotation.
Regards,
Chris