Thank god for folks like Stanford aka@pushingsocial. I was reading this latest nugget over at his site as I struggled today.
I've got three unfinished posts that just weren't ready. At least for me.
I think something like that fish Dory from "Finding Nemo"- "just keepswimming, just keep swimming..."
I like his three phrases (words) of advice on generating great content.
1. Don't try to be a thought leader. Definitely none of that here, right? I've written since middle school for papers, for fun, for graded school projects. Now I am fairly sure I am literally just writing for me. And that's not a whine. I am fairly sure I'm not going to sway folks into thinking much of anything, but I will try to share information and MAYBE generate a stray thought or two per Stan's advice.
2. I will disagree slightly with Stan on his second point. Mind you, we are not writing the Bible here. Nothing is sacrosanct. And yes, a quality post SHOULD be as easy as:
If you have a excellent premise, can write a interesting lead, can marshal your evidence, and end with a thought-provoking bang. It’s really that simple.
However, it can be hard to do that consistently, yes? Very hard. As I mentioned about that writing, I've done a bit, but it never prepares you for the rigor of finding your voice regularly and consistently. Unless you write, a lot.
3. Post length? I'm with Stan on this one. Too many people write way too much. They get repetitive, they don't hear their own thoughts. Thus I'm not beating this one into the ground.
The main reason I cite Stanford and regurgitate his post: he DOES listen, which I think is the REAL key to blogging.
You can say stuff until you are blue in the face, but if you are not hearing what others say in general and specifically about or towards you...
You are just writing for yourself.