Writer Blogs and Misconceptions

It’s the start of the year, and many writers are setting out to work harder and do more to get their names out there. For some writers, this will mean publishing another book—or a first book as the case may be. For others, this will be building their online presence, looking at their social media options. For others, it will mean a revamp of an old website—or maybe building a new website. And there will be some writers who have decided to try their hand blogging.

Blogging is one of many different ways to build your online platform and following. Through blogging, you can make your website more attractive to readers, enticing them to visit on a regular basis. Through a constant turnover of new web content, you can even improve your SEO ranking.

It's not surprising that many marketers recommend using blogs to drive traffic to a website. And it's not surprising to see so many writers turn to blogging in an attempt to build a following. Hell, I blog in part for that reason. But if you’re not careful, blogging can quickly lead to writer burnout or leave dispirited writers in a state where they just want to give up.

Blogging is NOT for everyone.

It's time to dispel some of the myths surrounding blogging and make people face the realities before they fall into one of the many Hidden Traps associated with online platforms.

Misconception #1: All writers should have a blog.

Why?

I can name many writers both established and new who DON'T have blogs. Yes, a blog with regular new content can improve your SEO ranking, but for a writer who doesn’t want to blog, blogging can actually do more harm than good.

As a writer, you need to focus your energies on the things that will help you achieve your goals, whatever those goals happen to be. For most of us, the biggest component of our goals will be directly connected to our stories, meaning that your stories need to come first. Activities such as social media, marketing and blogging need to take a backseat.

Blog only if you WANT to. Never ever let anyone bully you into doing something that you don't want to do.

If you do decide to blog and find it overwhelming to generate new content regularly, look at what you’re doing and dial it back. (I'll revisit this particular issue shortly.)

I have said it before—lots of times to lots of writers: If you don't want to blog, then DON'T DO IT!

Misconception #2: Blogging is a quick way to build a following.

Now that I’ve fallen out of my chair laughing so hard...

Perhaps when the internet was still in its early days that was the case, but in today’s internet world, the number of blogs out there is insane. Everyone is competing to be heard.

I have been blogging since 2014. In that time, I have amassed approximately 100 subscribers to my blogs (and that is an intentional plural), with the bulk of those subscribers sitting on the Black Wolf Editor’s Blog (this blog). My personal blog only recently saw subscriber numbers in the double digits.

For 5 years worth of blogging, I’m looking at such pathetic numbers. If blogging was a quick way to build a following, then my subscriber numbers should be in the thousands by now.

I don’t tell you this because I don’t want you to blog. If you want to blog, then do it. But accept the fact that in the beginning, you will be blogging for yourself. Eventually, you’ll build an audience who gets you, but blogging is a long-term game.

So, to start, post it, and listen to the crickets make music.

Misconception #3: Post it and they will come.

This is just another way of phrasing Misconception #2. But there is another side to blogging that new bloggers might not be aware of. To truly build a following, you need to spread the word about your blog’s existence.

You need to market it, shouting it out in various social media channels. But just like those book ads, you can't be 100% on the "read my blog" train. You need to mix the messages up.

Misconception #4: You should blog about what you know and writers know about writing. Therefore, writers should blog about writing.

There are two different aspects to this one. Let’s start with how writers should write about what they know.

So, the assumption that writers should write about writing because it’s what we know is fundamentally flawed. Writers know about a lot of things, and we learn more every day. Writers are skilled researchers!

But there are some who still hold fast to the idea that writers should blog about writing.

Why? What is the purpose? There are a lot of blogs out there about writing.

Writers who blog should produce content targeting the type of reader that they’re trying to attract. I’ve written about this in a previous post: At every step of the way, including in those beginning stages and through your social media interactions, think about who your ideal reader is. Share the content that they would like.

I’m guessing that your ideal readership consists of more than just writers.

Yes, I blog about writing, but look at the core function of this site.

I’m a developmental editor, people. I’m trying to attract writers to this site, because only other writers are going to hire my services. It only makes sense that I would write about the sort of content that prospective clients would be interested in.

On my personal site, I’m trying to attract the type of reader who might enjoy my personal fiction writing. That audience is much broader than just writers.

Misconception #5: Blogs should be about a single topic.

Bwahahaha... Seriously, folks, you need to look over the archives on this blog and on that of my personal blog.

On this blog, you will find articles about editing, writing, social media, building websites, email, podcasting, and a whole range of other topics. I will grant you that it’s all connected to the various aspects of being a writer in today’s environment, but there is no way it’s a single topic.

And my personal blog is even more eclectic. I have posts about science, parenting, my photography, internet security, and of course there are posts about my journey into this publishing world. There is even the odd rant about some of the people I encounter in my internet travels. My personal blog really is all over the place, but my personal world is all over the place. My audience is me and those like me.

Write about what you want to write about—and the naysayers can just suck it up and deal...

Misconception #6: For a blog to be successful, you need to blog daily.

Where does one even begin with this one?

Some content marketers have been pushing this idea for a long time, stating that you need to produce new content daily to drive sufficient interest to your blog and website. There are some so-called experts who will even advocate that you post "cat pictures" and other random things that add zero value, just so you can have new content.

No matter how you look at it, this comes down to the quality-vs-quantity argument. Lots of new content will increase visibility of a website, but only for a while. Eventually, readers will seek quality content. Those random "cat" memes might be good for social media feeds, but on a blog, where you have more space to properly formulate your thoughts and where archives stick around much longer, it might not be enough.

Bloggers, particularly bloggers who are writers of longer works, should produce longer blog posts—within reason. However, the longer something is, the longer it takes to craft and edit. And yes, bloggers should edit their writing.

Blogging every day is a huge ask and a massive time suck. I know. I speak from experience. I tried it. The Tip of the Week series started its life as Tip of the Day, and for five months, it was every day. And after five months, I just couldn’t do it anymore.

I dropped it back to Tip of the Week and ran that for 2 years. Again, it eventually became too much and the series was brought to an end.

Remember what I said earlier: As writers, we need to focus on creating the content that we want to be shared. If you want to be a novelist, focus on writing novels. If you want to be known as a blogger and nothing else, then go ahead and write that daily blog.

Meanwhile, I’ll be sitting in the corner with the wine, waiting for you to come to your senses.

If you blog, consistency is the key.

The real trick to blogging, in a sane manner that can be managed, is to blog about topics that interest you and to be consistent as to when you release new material. If that means releasing a new blog post once a month, so be it.

Now, I did say releasing new materials, because the real key to sanity in this equation is to stack the blog posts up and schedule them to go automatically. There are some people who poo-poo on the concept of automation, but when it comes to blogging, it’s the only way to do it and stay sane.

I’ll have a day or two every month when I’ll write ALL my blog posts for the coming month and get them ready to go. If I’m lucky, I’ll get two months’ worth of posts written, giving me extra time to focus on my personal writing.

When all is said and done, you shouldn’t listen to the content marketers when it comes to blogging.

• Blog only if you want to.
• Blog about topics that interest you, attracting your ideal reader (which is probably similar to you, so they’ll be interested in what you are interested in).
• And if you do decide to blog, be consistent about it, but be sensible about it too.
• Don’t try to be a machine.

Now this post is getting insanely long, so I'll leave it at that.