How To Develop A Compelling and Magnetic Blog Writing Style
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009Welcome back!
How To Develop A Compelling and Magnetic Blog Writing Style
Most bloggers stink at writing. There’s a good reason why and I’ll explain it in a moment. For now, it’s important for you to understand that anyone can develop a compelling blog writing style. If writing doesn’t come naturally to you, it’ll take practice. But, it will come and your audience will thank you.
Today, I’m going to tell you how you can develop a powerful blogging voice. When people read your posts, 
you want them to hear your voice in their heads. And when they leave, you want them to leave thinking about what you’ve written.
That’s a compelling blog writing style.
Write How You Speak? Maybe
How often have you heard bloggers recommend that you write in the same manner you speak? Believe it or not, that advice does more harm than good.
The next time you’re in public, listen to the conversations of others. You’ll notice people choose poor phasing, use words improperly, and make points that are muddied and hard to follow. In person, the listener can fight through those problems and still understand what is being said. When you write a blog, it’s much harder. Your message must be precise.
So, when blogging, don’t write how you speak. Instead, write your blog with a style that is conversational, but exact. It’s more compelling to your readers.
Get To The Point
I’ve heard bloggers say that you should state your point in the first 300 words of your post. I disagree. In the span of 300 words, your readers will become restless. The phone, television, refrigerator, and other websites call to them. You will lose some of them.
Get to your point within the first 100 words of each blog post. Remember, your readers have a million other blogs to read. If you don’t grab their attention and draw them in immediately, they’ll go elsewhere.
What George Orwell Can Teach You About Blog Writing
In 1946, Orwell wrote an essay titled “Politics and the English Language.” In it, he offered great advice about writing. I’ll paraphrase.
1.Don’t use figures of speech. They’re boring. Writing “neither here nor there” will put your blog readers to sleep.
2.Short words are better than long words.
3.If you can get rid of a word, get rid of it. Immediately.
4.Use an active voice when writing. Don’t say “the girl was running.” Say “the girl ran.”
5.Stop using buzzwords and jargon unless you must in order to get your point across.
Blogging is one of the most effective internet marketing strategies you can use. But, to squeeze the most value from it, you need to develop a compelling blog writing style. That’s what attracts new readers. It is what motivates your current readers to return over and over.
There may be millions of blogs, but few are written well. The good news is that a compelling writing style stands out from the crowd. Write in a conversational tone, get the to point quickly, and follow Orwell’s advice. Your blogging voice will ring with clarity and be remembered.
