Blogging For The Non Blogger

As a debut fiction writer, I was thrilled to be invited to join The Debutante Ball, a website that features five debut authors as they go through the joys and challenges during their year of publication. Each writer is assigned a day of the week to post a blog (I’m the Tuesday girl), and each has a job (anything from website management to guest post scheduler). I am enjoying this new gig far more than I expected; I have gotten to know and appreciate the other four women authors, and — more surprisingly — I love the built-in deadlines that the blog requires.

There is only one problem: I’m not a blogger. Never have been. So my initial concern was how I would manage to write weekly pieces on a wide range of topics (from writing in general to my book in particular, and much, much more), when the genre is not one with which I have any experience or one that comes naturally to me. To be honest, when I found out I’d been accepted, I completely panicked. I’m a novelist and prefer to speak through the characters I develop, let them do the opining. But here I was, being given an opportunity to try something new, so I took a deep breath and got down to work.

So how does one blog as a non-blogger? I have absolutely no idea. But here’s what I’ve figured out so far:

1. All the rules of writing still apply. As with any writing, you have to have a purpose and know your audience, and you have to structure each piece so there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end. When writing a novel, I can handle these rules, but for short pieces, I find it to be very difficult. I sometimes start a piece and realize 500 words in that I’m just rambling, not getting to the point. Best to have a hook or a map or a plan. Cut everything unessential; delete every sentence that doesn’t move the piece forward. You have to state the argument, make your case, and sum it up, all in under 1000 words. Even if a piece is humorous, it still needs structure. Yikes, not easy.

2. Don’t procrastinate! Just because blogging is a shorter form and a somewhat more casual genre, doesn’t mean you can slack off on #amediting. Revise, revise, revise, just as if it were 85,000 words instead of 700. Revising, as we all know, takes time. A last minute, hasty piece will be sloppy, and sloppy is disrespectful to your readers.

3. Don’t adopt a different voice. My personality isn’t earnest and sweet, so I can’t write that way. I want to sound like myself, so I always read my work aloud and ask myself, “Does this sound like me or do I want to cringe?” Cringe = something’s wrong. The tone, the attitude of the piece should still sound like the person doing the writing. The best thing about having your own website is you can practice figuring out who the heck you are.

4. Spin a topic to fit your style. Related to point #3, but this is about content, rather than voice. A few weeks ago our Deb blog topic was a how-to on character development. I tried to write a genuine piece about how I think about characters when I’m writing, how I develop them, or even how I allow them to become who they are in the process of writing. I just couldn’t do it. I ended up writing about why I like to make my characters throw up instead. It was unusual, yes, but much more my style. You can check it out here: http://www.thedebutanteball.com/characters-puking-on-planes-and-other-adventures/

5. Become a loyal reader of blogs. Read for inspiration! There are wonderful blogs with helpful information for writers, such as The Debutante Ball, We Heart Writing, Literary Mama (After Page One), and, of course, Women Writers, Women’s Books. If you want to contribute a piece to a site as a guest, you need to be familiar with its culture. There are also sites out there (focusing on humor, opinions, relationships, politics, or parenting, for example) that may fit your world view or your sensibilities; find those sites and submit! (And if you get a rejection, don’t give up. Submit again.)

6. Find great images. This might seem like a triviality, but looking for images to go with a blog I’ve written is so much fun. I waste enormous amounts of time on this, skimming through my own pictures and sites that offer free images or ones for purchase. That piece I wrote on my vomiting characters? I found the perfect image to go with it. It was the finishing touch on a piece I felt really good about. It’s like the cover for a book – It should be appealing, and it should speak to the nature of the piece you’ve written.

7. Lists are awesome. Enough said.

8. Be bold. The more you blog, the more confident you’ll become. I’m becoming less and less self-conscious every time I click that “Publish” button.

I’m three months into the life of weekly blogging, and so far, it has been an amazing experience and a great opportunity for me to learn a new format and to communicate with readers and writers. It is much more time-consuming and takes more stamina than I’d imagined, but it is also surprisingly gratifying – I love the quick timeline (compared with the publishing timeline of a fiction, which moves at a glacial pace), the feedback from readers, and the chance to put thoughts out into the world on a range of topics.

It’s relentless, as well, and on that note, I’m off to work on my next piece – As I’ve learned: a bloggers work is never done.

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About Small Admissions:

“Perfect for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep.”—Booklist

One admission can change your life…forever.

When ambitious grad student Kate Pearson’s handsome French “almost fiancé” ditches her, she definitely does not roll with the punches, despite the best efforts of family and friends. It seems that nothing will get Kate out of pajamas and back into the world.

Miraculously, one cringe-worthy job interview leads to a position in the admissions department at the revered Hudson Day School. Kate’s instantly thrown into a highly competitive and occasionally absurd culture, where she interviews all types of children: suitable, wildly unsuitable, charming, loathsome, ingratiating, or spoiled beyond all measure. And then there are the Park Avenue parents who refuse to take no for an answer.

As Kate begins to learn there’s no room for self-pity or nonsense during the height of admissions season or life itself, her sister and friends find themselves keeping secrets, dropping bombshells, and arguing with each other about how to keep Kate on her feet. Meanwhile, Kate seems to be doing very nicely, thank you, and is even beginning to find out that her broken heart is very much on the mend. Welcome to the world of Small Admissions.

Tags: Blogging, debutante ball, featured, women writers

Category: How To and Tips