Problogger Diary

The first consideration here is whether you want to report on what’s going on all over the Internet, that is, regurgitating content, or whether you want to churn out original content. The former isn’t as bad as it sounds—“regurgitated” is just the technical word we’re using. It essentially means you’re aggregating content and links, with some of your own commentary, of course. What gets created is one place for people with a particular interest to visit, instead of them going about all over the Net looking for the interesting stuff. What will be the personal and distinguishing aspect here is, of course, your commentary: a blog that just aggregates can be pretty boring. Besides, it will not have an identity.

If you’re planning on writing original stuff, amongst other things, you should be a good writer. That’s about all we can say here. Do some introspection and self-analysis: are you a good writer? Ask your friends—close ones, who’ll tell you the truth—do they think you’re a good writer? It’s a bad idea to jump into original writing without some writing flair and experience. The idea of a blog of your own—with entirely your writing on it—may seem very appealing indeed, but it will be just lost in the clutter if you’re not what people call a good writer.

Naturally, you can develop your skills, and if you try your hand at writing, you might even discover that you do have the flair. It’s something like playing a musical instrument: it comes naturally with some people; for some, it’s just a matter of practice before they become a pro; and some people will remain mediocre players however hard they try. We’re telling you like it is!

Next up is some rather obvious advice: blog about what you’re most comfortable with, what you’re most passionate about, and what you know about. (These will help the cause if you’re a less-than-perfect writer.) Looking at it the other way, don’t create a blog on some topic just because you want to be known as a writer on that topic. It’ll show at some point or the other that the topic isn’t your core competency, as it were.

To belabor the point, the topic should be such that your hand moves freely along the keyboard as you think about it. Now passion and knowledge can, in certain cases, compensate for each other: people will read your blog even if it’s written a dry manner if it conveys a good deal of fresh, authentic information. The other way, if you’re really passionate about something, you can earn a readership even if your coverage is less than complete. Don’t let the idea of “letting your knowledge out” bother you. On a cynical but realistic note, it’s unlikely that no-one else on the Internet knows what you know—if it’s worth knowing, it probably is out there in some form or the other!
Another important point is not to fear being lost in the crowd. We’ve come across people who don’t blog on their favorite topic because “there are too many of them out there.” This shouldn’t be a deterrent—it’s a challenge! It’s a challenge on two counts—using your writing and other skills to turn the topic into something so interesting that people will read you instead of someone else, and using your knowledge to bring out at least some gems that the others haven’t touched upon.

Finally, remember that a good blog on a little-discussed topic, one that caters to a niche audience, has a good chance of being a
success. It’s as with anything else—if you don’t have too much competition, you can create your own space. Think about uncommon
things that interest you.

Posted by Problogger Diary at Saturday, April 04, 2009