busy
jongibbs shares some tips on mistakes to avoid in blogging. Many of these are good, some debatable. My thoughts...1) Don't be boring. To this I add: Know what you and your audience consider interesting. There are different branches of blogging; the core of one is often annoyingly irrelevant in another.
2) Don't tell people what to do. Applies to some branches far more than others: there are advice blogs, and general blogs where the author is an expert whose advice is relished by their audience.
6) Don't promote yourself or your work in someone else's blog (unless invited to do so). I'd simply amend this to "... in a way that annoys people." Because one of the best means of self-promotion is also a terrific content-booster: making a comment about your work when it is relevant to the discussion. I mean, come on, if I see someone lamenting, "Everyone tells me to write my own rituals, but nobody says how!" then of course I'm going to point them to Composing Magic. That's WHY I wrote the book! Again, this varies by blog branch. Pimping is disliked in personal-blogging, but often embraced in professional or hobby blogs.
10) Filling in the blank, I add:
* Don't vanish. People get antsy if you post frequently and then disappear for days without a word. And if your posts are erratic to begin with, people tend to drift away.
* Don't write so badly that the technical errors drive away your audience. Good grammar, punctuation, and spelling are your friends.
October 14 2010, 23:04:23 UTC 10 years ago
I share a lot but then I have readers that also share a lot and so we are in similar boats. We help each other out by sharing and caring.
As is always the case, if those critical and judgemental commenters do not want to read my blog then it is no skin off my back and, if I lose them as a client customer (not that I am selling anything) then I would honestly rather not sell to them (even if I was).
Some people cannot imagine what it is like to be in another's shoes, can they. Sadly, I do not have to imagine what being them is like - I have been like them (years ago) and have a mother that is still exactly like them! LOL ;-p
I feel an LJ post about this coming on, once I can be coherent and not too ranty/shouty about it.
Thoughts
October 15 2010, 00:16:06 UTC 10 years ago
I'm glad I could help put this in perspective a bit.
>>Some of us use our blogs / livejournals to network with others and form communities with others who have the same house-bound-ing (not a word, I know) chronic illness as we do and so share a lot and find the blog a great way to make friends.<<
Yeah, I know several folks who do that. Hm, "housebound" is an adjective. Maybe "housebinding" would work as the verb form? Or "confining" would be another option. I don't think the older "shut-in" (adjective or noun) would convert back to verb easily.
>>As is always the case, if those critical and judgemental commenters do not want to read my blog then it is no skin off my back and, if I lose them as a client customer (not that I am selling anything) then I would honestly rather not sell to them (even if I was).<<
A blog author always has to find the right audience. No blog is appealing to everyone, because people have different interests. There's nothing wrong with shooing away people who are not a good match, as long as you're not gratuitously cruel about it. The same applies to readers; if you don't like a blog, don't nag the author, just go find something else to read.
>>Some people cannot imagine what it is like to be in another's shoes, can they. Sadly, I do not have to imagine what being them is like - I have been like them (years ago) and have a mother that is still exactly like them!<<
Good icon! Some people are not taught how to relate to others in that way, and if it doesn't come naturally to them, that means they may not learn it at all. That's a nasty handicap in relationships, and I think it's becoming more common. On the other hoof, chronic illnesses are a great deal more prevalent and visible now than they were a few decades ago, and the 'net helps connect people so awareness is also rising. A reasonably sensible person who has a friend or two with limitations is well equipped to spot someone new with a different issue, and just ask for their coping parameters.
>>I feel an LJ post about this coming on, once I can be coherent and not too ranty/shouty about it.<<
Which aspect? Your style of blogging, or the cross-style issue, or the sensitivity issue, or something else? Any of those could be useful. If it's about blogging, ping me when you write it and I'll come read.