A Blogging Wish for Bloggers in 2006

Weblog Tools Collection posted a Blogging Wishlist for 2006 which lists wishes for the future of blogging universally, helping bloggers blog better.

A lot of the things on his list I really liked, especially the future prospects for WordPress, which seemed to be more of recommendations than wishes, but we take them as we find them. But one really caught my attention:

Finally, I would like to see more and better content. Well written personal blogs are refreshing reads.

Excellent. Free blogging services like WordPress.com have opened up blogging to anyone and everyone who has something to say. Like all free gifts, some people will use these faithfully, growing in their writing as well as their blogging skills as they blog over time. They may even grow into a full-blown blogging package with advertising and mass appeal. Others will use it for the thrill, find little continued enthusiasm, and then let it go. But for those who do, my greatest wish, alongside Weblog Tools Collection, is that bloggers will blog better.

There is something that happens, consciously and unconsciously, over time as you blog. If you do more than write a word or three with a link, you will find your thoughts thinking differently and the words that flow from your brain to your fingers will also change. Usually they will improve, increasing the power you have to not only get to your point but help people get your point.

Anything you do over time consistently will improve as you gain familiarity and instinct for what works and doesn’t work. Sure, it takes work and you need to keep learning as you go, changing, shifting, and evolving as you learn what will work for you and your audience.

The greatest benefactor of such improvements are your readers. Your audience. Your fans. Soon, your writing and content gets to the level that someone somewhere says “By the way, did you catch Sally Jo’s blog post on comment spammers? You need to go read it.” As your writing really improves and word of mouth spreads, soon people will be saying, “I can’t wait to read Sally Jo’s blog this morning. She always writes the most fascinating topics.” A blogging star is born.

So I wish you a year of self-education and practice as you work on your blogging skills. Determine your blogging style and focus on a specific topic, and then let nature take its course. The Blogosphere will be a much better place if we all put more energy into more and better written blogs.

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen