Reader Question: Starting a Blog

When you first started your blog, how did you get the word out so people other than your friends would know about it and read it?

Honestly, when I first started my blog (which, if you look at my LiveJournal calendar, you can see was way back in 2003), I wasn’t all that worried about getting people to come and read it. I wanted a way to connect with other writers I already knew on LJ, and I wanted to write about my progress as I worked on novels and tried to get short stories published. I gradually made new friends and caught the interest of other readers just by being myself. I think it helped that I followed and commented on the other blogs that I found interesting or insightful. When people see that you’re interested in them, they often want to find out a little bit about who you are.

I’ve also tried to include content I think will be useful to others. Like answering questions like this! 🙂 Or making a post about my writing process, or books I’ve enjoyed.

Ultimately, I think a blog is most likely to succeed if you’re writing about things that you enjoy and letting that show in your writing, and at the same time offering information or discussion topics that will appeal to readers. There’s no one way to accomplish that, though. You have to figure out what works best for you!


Comments

Reader Question: Starting a Blog — 4 Comments

  1. This was my question. Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. I’m impressed how you’ve been blogging for so long. I worry after a few weeks or so, I’d run out of things to say.

    • Sometimes I’m not sure what to say, either! But if you think of it as sharing your interests and topics you’re passionate about with the rest of the world, you might find there’s more you’d like to talk about than you suspected. 🙂

  2. Thanks. I think I’ll take the plunge sometime this summer once school is out and I just have work, writing, and family to handle.

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