Blogger or Writer: 3 Ways to Nourish Your Writing Roots

Everyone knows you can make money writing; authors of books, newspapers, and magazines are all presumably paid for their work. But people are consistently intrigued with the idea of earning money blogging. Why is this, when a blog is basically a series of self-published articles? A blogger is a writer that goes above and beyond to do their own publishing, marketing, and monetization.

The lifeblood of blogging is the writing craft. Too often we hear the “content in king” cliche and accept it as the final word. We decide that our topic is important or interesting, and therefore that we have the content part nailed. But content is not so much the information provided as the manner in which it is conveyed. We tend to forget this, and pour more effort into the logistics of the enterprise than into the literary backbone.

I have fallen for the blogger-writer distinction about as hard as anyone, starting with little writing experience. This made it blatantly clear to me that I had some work to do. Reading had given me a feel for good writing, but creating it did not come as easily. The blogosphere of course has many tips: you should write write list-posts, follow your interests, and create snazzy titles — but such tips will not correct serious deficiencies. The most compelling advice I’ve encountered points to practices that take time and dedication. I have found the following three most helpful towards the blogging platform.

Practice 1: Develop a rich vocabulary. Almost all good writers use a diverse set of words because it allows them to express finer shades of meaning, state ideas succinctly, and adjust the sound and rhythm of the writing. You do not want to concoct ridiculously ornate prose, but the right word at the right time can pack a powerful punch — whether it is to motivate, persuade, inspire, or entertain. As a bonus, you will sound more intelligent, for we naturally intuit what formal studies prove: vocabulary sizes correlate very strongly with IQ scores.

Practice 2: Practice imitating styles. Your favorite bloggers or writers probably have distinct voices formed by their sentence structures, word choices, and emotional appeal. Do they lure you in with short anecdotes, or jump to the main ideas? Do they employ metaphors and imagery, or state ideas plainly? Is the voice conversational, or formal and journalistic? Practicing writing in other voices helps you stretch your capacity and better understand your own mechanics. See if you can make your writing indistinguishable from that of whom you emulate.

Practice 3: Reduce the number of words as much as possible. Concise language is clear and vibrant. It forces you to use a decisive, active voice, rather than meandering around topics on which you have little to say. Try taking a post and cutting the words in half, without sacrificing content. Even if you think the piece is irreducible, commit yourself to this exercise. I think you will be surprised, as I often am, how much extraneous writing surrounds your core ideas

About the Author: Brad in the author of Word a Day Wonder, a site that teaches vocabulary using fun and interesting facts.