There are those in the blogosphere that say that to be successful a blogger must post some type of information at least three times a week. Most also say that these posts should be a certain length and should contain certain strategically placed, platform based key words for blog search engines to latch onto.Admin Options
According to these experts in all things blogging, a reader will not stay engaged with a blogger unless the blogger meets the minimum posting requirement. If the Powers That Be are correct, I am destined to be a miserable failure as a blogger. I only blog when I have something to say. Sometimes I post once a week; sometimes I post every other week; and God forbid, sometimes I only post once a month. And as far as key words, well, the only keys I have are on my key ring and computer keyboard. I won’t even go into platforms—because I don’t have one. I’m a writer. I just write. End of story.
I envy bloggers who can pump out a blog post every couple of days. As I sit staring at my keyboard every week, I wonder how they do it. To be honest, I just don’t have that much to say. Seriously, my life isn’t all that exciting; and as far as giving any great advice—advice you people just can’t live without—well, I don’t have much! Sure, I could write about the nuts and bolts of writing all day long; but I’d just be regurgitating what has already been said in the gazillions of writing books lining the shelves of your local libraries and bookstores—books that I would encourage you to read for yourselves.
I put a great deal of thought into my blog entries. A few times, I considered writing about the daily grind of my personal life; but then I realized I wouldn’t have anything to journal about. Trust me; I need to journal. It keeps me sane. And while I’m absolutely crazy about all of you, I’m not crazy enough to put my journal on line. Yeah, posting those entries would earn me a one-way ticket to my local psyche ward. Hey, I never said I was sane. I am a writer, after all.
As many of you know, I sometimes write about my family members. But I try to do so sparingly. While their antics are virtual gold mines of possibilities—they are gold mines that, for the most part, I like to keep private. That’s right; you only get to skim the surface of these shiny gems. I’m saving most of these precious little jewels for that six-figure book deal. Copyright laws prevent me from saying more.
Speaking of book deals, no I don’t have one; but the concept is an excellent segue into my next thought. I am a fiction writer, so that is what I spend the majority of time writing. For a while, the Powers That Be had me wondering if I had a broken chromosome in writer’s DNA. Seriously, people, my daily word allocation is limited. I have only so many words I can use a day. Most of these go into my books. I mete out any leftovers between my poetry, my short stories, and my blog posts. It’s slim pickins!
As a writer, I know that I must take care not to overextend myself. For me, overextension equals disequilibrium, and disequilibrium equals steams of unintelligible drivel. In other words, when I don’t properly allocate all of my writing resources, I do nothing more than drool all over the page. I’m not really into drooling, verbal or otherwise, and I don’t think drooling with keep you engaged. I know there are writers out there that can write an interesting, succinct post in an hour or less. I am not one of those writers. It takes me all day to write a blog post—sometimes two. I know. I know. If I would follow the mandatory word count, it wouldn’t take so long. What can I say? I’m just a rebel at heart.
In my opinion, there is no right or wrong way to blog. There is no correct word count. There is no perfect posting schedule. And, believe it or not, Google’s spiders are not going to make your blog any more popular than it already is. Oh, they might lead a few people to your site; but if your message doesn’t resonate with them, they won’t come back. It’s about the draw of the message within the posts. Each blogger has his/her own audience. Each writer will attract the audience that resonates with his/her message. I believe if a writer writes from the deepest part of his/her soul, his/her writing will bear fruit. People will want to read what he/she has to say. It’s about originality—not conformity. And, for me personally, it’s about speaking my truth—not making money.
Each of us has a message we have been tasked to give to the world. My message will not be the same as yours—but it will be just as vital, just as relevant, to those who have been tasked to hear it. I believe:
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all Time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. . .” (Letter from Martha Graham to Agnes De Mille)My inexperienced and therefore humble advice about blogging is simply this: Write from your heart. Your blog is your own little field of dreams. If you write it, they will come. And if they are called to your work—they will stay! I have built the foundation of my own field of dreams securely upon the words of Frank Marshall Davis. I want nothing more than to be:
A painter with words
Creating sharp portraits
On the wide canvas of your mind.
What about you?Nuff said.
© 2009 Phoenix Rising. All Rights Reserved.
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From My friend Phoenix, an amazing writer! Enjoy. Her thoughts and experience as a writer
