I encourage students in my communications classes to write blogs as a way of honing their writing skills. Consequently some of my rules — such as length — are not standard in the world of get-it-down-and-out-as-fast-as-you-can blogging. Nonetheless, here are my standard rules in judging whether or not a blog is good:
Make your blog personal . Everyone can be his or her own publisher with a blog. You might wax eloquent on the latest political news, reminisce about a favorite childhood activity, complain about the restrictive lifestyle at The Citadel or daydream about some R&R in the Bahamas.
A blog should reveal something about your personal opinions or experiences because the whole purpose of blogging in business is to build relationships. As is the case with other social media, the personal nature of blogs is what creates connections.
Check your writing, grammar and spelling. The fundamental rules of grammar apply. I realize that with texting and email, some conventions of spelling and grammar have left the building. But blogs that are written for business or academic purposes need to follow the same rules that apply to more formal communications:
- Spell words correctly and pay attention to punctuation.
- Develop an idea and bring it to life through personal stories or examples. Perhaps your love of travel had its roots in that childhood trip to Disney World; maybe the irritation you feel at a team’s failure to pull together reminds you of a bad experience with a coach in a past life; or possibly the fact that you would rather sit and read than go to a party means that you are becoming your mother.
- Think about your conclusion. You want your takeaway to be memorable.
Say enough to make it worth while for someone else to read your blog. A few sentences or one paragraph won’t cut it. Your blogs for my assignments should have at least four to five paragraphs in order for you to develop your ideas.
Keep the paragraphs short. Blogs are written in business format which means that you develop one idea per paragraph. A paragraph may be six words or six lines long.
Remember, white space is important and you are writing for skim value. Leave the long, eloquently developed paragraphs that run on for two-thirds of a page to your English and history papers. Those professors will appreciate the artistry of a finely-honed idea. In business, you need to get to the point and give the supporting information.
Add some pictures, music or other elements. Even though your writing will be direct and to-the-point, readers will still appreciate any extras that engage their attention.
Have some fun. Who knows? Someone may listen to you now that you have the world as your potential audience. I suspect that most of these blogs will just float off into oblivion but one never knows. Your words could be the ones that truly make a difference in some aspect of modern life.
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