Category: Blogging lessons
Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work! Taught Me 16 New Things about Blogging
This is part of my Summer Reading 2.0 series.
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I have a special place in my heart for the books that Urban Outfitters sells. I can buy ~4 books for the price of 1 skirt.
While I was there, I picked up Austin Kleon’s Show Your Work!, a bright yellow book that could fit into my tiny cross-body purse.
This book is intended for writers, artists, and anyone who has some sort of creative passion but feels trapped in an amateurish state. It’s a concise work that states simple truths in ways unconsidered.
For me, it eliminated many doubts and boundaries that my mind had constructed about getting myself out there.
It made me realize that a journal is not just a journal, but rather a sketchpad for portraying, or a drawing board for brainstorming. Continue reading
Writing Advice: Write Like There’s No Tomorrow
A piece of advice that I’ve happened upon many times in my internet searches of “how to write blog” can be summed up as “write as much as you can…don’t be afraid of failure or mistakes, otherwise you will never improve…you will never grow.”
I’ve always skimmed over this tip but never given it much thought, always writing for this blog what I thought others would surely enjoy, nothing that would be too risky.
However, I was thinking the other night, and realized this, that
If I’m ever to grow as a writer, I’ve got to embrace the concept of backlash, the prospect of defeat, and the idea of failure. Continue reading
How to write for yourself: an 11-step guide
In obvious contrast to a previous post, 8 steps to write a blog for others.
11. Write whatever you want, no matter how messed up or horrible you think it is. Don’t write as if you expect your “work” to later be published in a memoir. Why would you write for yourself if you didn’t write what you believe is true?
Here is where you hoard all of the thoughts you are embarrassed to express, every painful regret you can’t admit to others, and every irrational fear you’ve ever had. Write a letter addressed to any individual, of everything you just can’t say. This is an extreme free-write.
That your entries don’t make sense when strung together shouldn’t bother you, but rather be indicative of every day leaving a different impression on you than the last.
Continue reading
8 steps to write a blog for others
Do not be fooled! This is a tattoo.
8. Don’t tell stories. That’s what parties are for. Stories require personal interaction; a screen between you and your reader is hardly sufficient to create a meaningful interpersonal connection.
No one wants to read about your life. You didn’t click on this link because you want to hear about my day or know about my life, do you? (In the rare instance that you do, thank you – I love you!)
But the majority want information for themselves; they read when there’s something in it for them, they click when my words offer them some incentive. It’s less of a selfish intention and more of a tendency of human nature.
It’s just something to keep in mind if you want your writing to connect with others. Stories are fine, as long as they are anecdotes, structured to demonstrate a broader point that people can relate to. Continue reading
6 reasons why blogging sucks (and writing in general)
6. You never know if your substance is appropriate.
There are so many facts about my personal life that I’m tentative to reveal here. My last name? Where I live? What school I’m going to? Names of my friends? Romantic details? These are all sensitive topics; I’m previewing what kind of backlash I might get every time I write a This Kid I Know. Continue reading
I Run the Blog, The Blog Does Not Run Me
Blogs are very versatile tools, for people of all ages, for people with all sorts of interests and backgrounds, with any and every intention. Some come to write because the Internet is a remarkable forum for people to share their ideas and opinions. That being said, the optimal blog (in my opinion) is one that finds an acceptable balance between self-expression and writing for an audience.
Eventually coming to isolate a focus for your blog is a natural occurrence that will happen gradually, if you have the intention of writing for other people. Focusing on a theme means that your blog might actually have an impact, because it means that you’re not just chronicling your life or ranting about random topics and then never coming back to address them. With a theme, you are coming back to repeatedly discuss/update your opinion and experiences about a certain topic that you will become an expert about. This is not to say that you can’t write about what you want, but just that there should be a tone among your posts that stands out. Continue reading
Embracing Your Amateurity
Will someone buy me a cup like this? I’d love you forever.
(Amateurity isn’t actually a word, but I’ll unofficially define it as the state of being amateur)
I woke up and saw the notebook. I was so very drowsy, and so I only wrote three words down.
“such an amateur” Continue reading
Keep On Writing, Everyone
Some can pick up a microphone and demonstrate their natural talent for singing.
Others can indicate their affinity for dance as a method of self-expression.
Me? I can sit down for hours and write non-stop.
It is 2:07 AM. Continue reading
Top 7 Ways to Get Writing Inspiration
It’s not that I don’t love writing, because believe me, I do. It’s just that some days I come home absolutely deflated, and not in the mood to write. So I turn to my inspirational muses (in no particular order).
I remember about a year ago, before I’d even considered starting a personal blog, that I found an extremely thought-provoking post from Thought Catalog. It was about snuggling. The reason why it stuck with me is because it was very descriptive. I found myself looking through my internet history trying to find it a couple of months later, for motivation to write a descriptive paper in English class. And I looked back again right before I wrote my first post for the blog. Thought Catalog was the first blog I ever followed, and the sheer variety of topics that it blogs about astounds me. Of course, it’s made up of a diversity of writers, but that just means that there’s a section for every sort of reader. I find myself looking a lot to this blog when I’m looking for topics to write about, and styles to adapt and take notice of. Its minimalist design and breadth of articles makes it my go-to source for inspiration. Continue reading
Everyone should write.
I really think they should. For yourself or for an audience, it really doesn’t matter.
When you write for yourself, there’s no need to hold back. No fear of other people reading your thoughts, shocked when they discover your true nature. Let your personality come out. Your writing should reflect who you are when no one is really around; what you really think of someone, something, or somewhere. And in privacy, you should have the right to write about anything and everything. What did you think of your day? Was it better than yesterday? Why is that? How do you feel? Are you happy? Why or why not? Is it a temporary factor or something chronic? Continue reading
Catherine Zhang 