The Article Writer

In the grand scheme of things, I doubt my exit from MyBlogLog (MBL) will be noticed by anyone from parent company Yahoo! (Y!) as I’m just an average user who hasn’t upgraded his account and I am not really all that involved with my own communities. I use MBL to check my blog stats and occasionally connect with members who visit other communities. Beyond that I haven’t been as active with MBL as I could be.

I Wasn’t Planning On Leaving, But…

I wasn’t planning on leaving MBL, but the Big Y! has changed things enough to give me pause, particularly as pertains to their new requirement that users now have to sign in with their Y! account. Although I do have a Y! account, I wasn’t too keen on that information being linked to MBL. Also, the first time that I tried to link the two accounts to see how that worked, Y! said that my account was closed due to inactivity. The second time I tried it, Y! said that the user name and password were not correct. Oddly, this same log in information works when I use the Yahoo Publishers Network.

Robb Watts Gives It Up Too

I know that I am not the only customer who is walking away from MBL as I received Rob Watts’ broadcast message last week announcing his exit from this social community. Soon after, Rob posted to his Yack Yack blog his reasons for leaving (security and privacy) and I responded to his message with my comments.

I Am A Demanding Social Media User

I have also have a new policy regarding social communities and it is two-fold: If I must give out more information about myself than I would care to share, then I am not interested in that community and, if a community makes it more difficult to log in that necessary, then I am gone.

Call me a fickle social media user, but my toleration for web communities is dependent on ease of use and personal privacy concerns.

If you are a blogger or considering becoming one, then you are in good company. So good, in fact, that Technorati is now tracking over 100 million blogs worldwide. Granted, many blogs have been abandoned or are nothing but splogs (spam blogs), therefore the number of regularly updated weblogs is probably much smaller than that number. Still, the enormity of the blogosphere is amazing with more than 175,000 new blogs added daily according to Technorati.

The amount of advice available to bloggers is staggering with some blogs set up to do just that: advise other bloggers on how to manage their blogs. While many of these tips can be very helpful, ultimately you are the master of your blog and how you decide to run it is in your hands. Though others have been blogging much longer than I have, there are some things that I have learned during the (almost) two years that I have been blogging. Instead of giving you detailed advice on how to blog, please allow me to share with you 7 tips to help you blog stress free. Yes, blogging is enjoyable but it can become very stressful — if you allow that to happen.

1. Start a blog because you want to blog, not because you have to blog. What are your motives for blogging? If blogging doesn’t stem from a personal passion to blog, then you’ll likely burn out eventually. You don’t have to be the best writer to blog, but there should be something within you that wants to impart knowledge to the world.

2. Pick a subject of interest to you. I’ve seen blogs started by bloggers which have been set up for only one reason — to make revenue. Sure, revenue generation is fine, but your topic should involve something that you like to write about. Otherwise, your blog will soon be recognized for what it really is: a splog.

3. Find a blog platform that is comfortable for you. Although I highly recommend WordPress and I strongly encourage people to host their blog on their own web address, I realize that this isn’t something that everyone wants to do. If you choose Blogger, LiveJournal, or some other blog platform, then immerse yourself in what they have to offer to you. You may not be so technically adept to want to deal with WordPress and all of its plug-ins and many updates, therefore another platform could be your best option. Besides, if you eventually decide you want to move over to WordPress, it isn’t a difficult thing to do.

4. Establish your own schedule and then adjust it as you see fit. In short, you do not have to blog every day in order to have a successful blog. Let’s take a look at the definition of blogging success anyway. Is it the number of visitors to your site? The number of articles picked up by the search engines? Or is there some other factor involved? Remember, this article is dealing with stress free blogging — if you cannot imagine yourself blogging every day, then don’t sweat it. Establish your own schedule and make adjustments as desired. Opinion offered are just that — opinions.

5. Short, long, or somewhere In between? Of course, if search engine optimization (SEO) is important to you, then posting longer articles of 300 words or more is much more beneficial then 50-100 word blurbs. In fact, if you spend several hours on an article and offer a killer headline, fresh information, graphics, and generous links to other sites, then you are likely to attract a greater amount of traffic, find your article referenced elsewhere, and quite possibly be considered an authority on your subject matter. If you simply don’t have the time to regularly develop what many call “pillar articles” you can include them from time to time and still have a “successful” blog.

6. Investigate your social media options. There are well over 100 social communities you can join, all created for the purpose to help people connect. The more involved you are with social media, the greater amount of traffic you are likely to attract to your blog. Facebook, MySpace, BlogCatalog, BUMPzee, MyBlogLog, and StumbleUpon are just a few of the social communities out there. Warning: You can find yourself spending a huge amount of time socializing and getting little else done; social networks can be enjoyable but they can also take up time you need to spend on other matters.

7. Remember: there is life apart from blogging. I enjoy blogging, but I know when I have had enough. At one point I managed nine blogs, but I have since scaled back to two (besides MySpace and StumbleUpon). Boundaries in life aren’t meant to restrict you, they are there to help you stay balanced. Blogging most definitely can have its place, but it shouldn’t become an obsession.

Lastly, if you do start a blog and you arrive at a point where you know that you want to shut it down, then do it. Some people blog for a season while others will probably be bloggers for a lifetime. Should you need to take an extended break or if you are finding it is time to darken your blog, then please post a message informing your readers of your decision. Your friends will understand your need to go in another direction and they will appreciate your notice. However, if do not keep your readership informed you could end up doing to them what you are seeking to avoid — stress.

Happy blogging!

There are five components to the writing process, something every writer must grasp in order to write successfully. These components apply to everyone who writes including professional writers, bloggers, students, etc. Please keep reading and I promise I’ll share a surprise with you at the end.

Prewriting is the process that helps writers get ready to write. The student spends time gathering information, experimenting with ideas, and plotting a course. Time spent on prewriting is essential to the writing process.

Drafting is the stage of making choices as to what to write. This is the first link between the prewriting and writing that is intended to communicate with an audience.

Revising writing may be the most difficult step in the process. It also is the most important step. Revision is not just the correction of usage and mechanics errors, but the time to decide where or how the communication can be improved.

Editing occurs only after the writer feels satisfied with the content and organization of the writing. Writing must be free from errors that distract the reader.

Publishing provides a chance for students to complete a product, see themselves as “authors,” read with appreciation, and learn from others.

This is a pretty good explanation of the writing process isn’t it? I thought so.

Now for the surprise: This outline is what the parents of our school district’s first graders receive.1 Yes, from a very early age — just as they are beginning to write complete sentences — children are being taught the essentials of good writing.

I was amazed to see this covered so thoroughly, but happy that our school district is shaping our children to write properly from the very beginning. If you have children, how does (or did) your school measure up? As a parent, how have you helped your children learn to write?

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1 Wake County Public School System, Instructional Services Division. “Writing Process.” Connections for School Success, (2007): 5.