What Every Blogger Should Know (Plus Prompt)

Blogging. Some professional writers loathe it, regarding it as a cheapening of their art. Others adore it, and do it for the sheer love of the instant form. Some accept it as a necessary evil in a platform development often key to securing a book deal. Others do it for the joy of broadcasting themselves, for better or worse, to anyone, anywhere, on any subject.

No matter why we do it, though, everyone tends to have their share of quality posts, and an equal sampling (I admit with rosy cheeks) of, err, less than stellar offerings.

So what’s the secret formula? In the latest from the Top 20 Tips From WD in 2009 series, my favorite bits of advice from our pages this year, writer Dinty W. Moore has an idea.

No. 11: Avoid the Blog Rabies
“Good blogging, like any good writing, is not just foaming at the mouth. First drafts are not your best work, and the audience must be foremost in your mind.”
—Author and teacher Dinty W. Moore, as featured in our November/December 2009 issue.

As with many areas of the publishing world, the key seems to be the same, a constant of the art: Readers, readers, readers, always.

That said, do you blog? Why? Moreover, what do you think makes for a solid post?

And now, paranoid to write any more in light of Dinty’s advice dangling above, lest I froth in hypocrisy, I bid you an excellent Wednesday.

See you Friday!

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WRITING PROMPT:Self-Help Surprise
Feel free to take the following prompt home or post your response (500 words or fewer, funny, sad or stirring) in the Comments section below. By posting, you’ll be automatically entered in our occasional around-the-office swag drawings.

A self-help guru makes you an offer you can’t refuse, no matter how much you’d like to.