(Attending the session: Ten types of Web writing with Lisa Stone and Lynne d. Johnson – blogged live by mir)
This session addressed the differences between writing for print and writing for blogs. Lynne listed the need for a conversational tone, increased personalization, and differentiation from the “corporate” voice as the most important changes to make when moving from print to blog.
Lisa Stone asked what types of blogs were represented in the room: the answers ranged from completely personal blogs (“It’s about expression. I don’t care to be read”) to business blogs (“we blog to be read”), and everything else in between.
“‘Oh! if only I could write!’ she cried (for she had the odd conceit of those who write that words written are shared). .”
–Virginia Woolf, Orlando
Lisa introduces ten things to keep in mind when writing a blog:
- Readers
- Presentation
- Word choice
- Conversation
- Headlines
- Attribution
- Link blogging
- Essay blogging
- Questions and answers
- Reviews and how-tos
- Readers – Ask your readers “how am I writing?” Don’t say “I am not a writer” “I am sort of a writer;” take responsibility for your writing. Listen to the feedback but learn how keep the feedback in perspective (especially when the feedback is coming from your loved ones). Learn and evolve. The ability to change and evolve based on the communication with your readers is one of the fundamental differences between web and writing.
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Presentation – Make it easy to be read online. Break your post out in paragraphs, use white space, make it pretty, make it readable (font size that is large enough to be read comfortably, high text-background contrast). Use punctuation to help your readers and for accessibility.
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Word choice – Be precise in your choice of words, be professional. Make word choices that are appropriate to your audience and your message. Read copyblogger.com
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Conversation – First, decide if you want to have a conversation with your readers (you don’t have to). Conversations are important for blogs, but they can be also sometimes hard to manage, and you can decide that your blog is not a discussion tool. There are alternatives to comments and trackbacks to maintain contact with your readers (for example providing an e-mail).
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Headlines – For Lisa, creating the right titles and headlines is the most important factors in successful online communication. Headlines are important for search engines, to catch your readers’ attention, and to clearly communicate what your post is about. Don’t betray the expectation of your readers. Lisa gives examples of headlines to exemplify the importance of clarity, professionalism, voice, right punctuation, and the use of profanity (“if you use it, you use it.”) and buzz words.
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Attribution – “Quote it, don’t steal it.” Cite the sources and link to them. Consult the Electronic Frontier Foundation for legal advice for bloggers
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Link blogging – Some posts or entire blogs are made of links and short commentary.
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Essay blogging – Longer, more researched posts (for example Chris Nolan and danah boyd). Make sure to have a clear structure and logic development for longer posts (what’s the issue, opinions and debate, and a conclusion)
9. Questions and Answers – In an interview format, you need to convey who the person is, why is interesting, and what they say. Through questions and words express what the person is really like. Mommy Bloggers have a series of Q&A posts organized in three sections: a call to action (where the questions are asked), the interview (where the interviewee has full control on the questions and the answers), and a open-ended question (to allow the interviewee to be free to express what they care about).
- Reviews and how-tos – Blogs on recipes and how to make things are popular.
This session has been blogged also by:
- Dina Mehta in Conversations with Dina
- Amy Gahran in Right Conversation
- Arieanna Foley in Blogaholics
- Jen Zug in The pile I’m in
Technorati Tags: blogher, bloghercon, blogher06, women, blogging, writing, howto