Blogging or Clogging?

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief, Southern Writers Magazine

What’s the difference?

Blogging is writing (posting) information on the World Wide Web. On the other hand, Clogging is a type of folk dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically.

You are wondering what one has to do with the other. Right? Well, it is simple really. We need to make our blogging more like clogging…our words need to be more musical…but instead of musical to hear, musical to read.

So many blog posts are so dry, monotone and just down right hard to trudge through. Some blog posts don’ have much of a theme just post stuff to be posting. I know I am as guilty as anyone.  Perhaps like me you get tired of posting, trying to come up with something to write about.

You’ve heard the expression, “She’s talking just to hear herself talk”. Sometimes that is exactly what some bloggers are doing.

What is your blog about? What is the purpose of your blog? What is the goal-what do you want people to get out of it? What do you want them to do? What do you want them to know about you, about your writing? Remember, even with blogging we should have a plan. You want your posts to be enjoyed. You want people to learn something. For people to look forward to reading you each time you post. You want them to recommend your post to their friends.

Do you have a particular genre you write? Do you talk about it in your post? I don’t mean trying to sell it; I mean actually talking about what you are writing. Some people just write about what they think. And that’s okay if that is what they want to write about. Maybe, some people out there would just like to hear what you think. Why, I don’t know, but maybe they would.

As an author you need to have a plan. I hope that that plan is letting people know you are an author, telling them about what you write, why you write it, where the ideas come from. Talking to them about your characters, the scenes, the names, the settings, even the problems you are having in writing. This is giving that individual who is reading your post an opportunity to get to know you as a writer.

Look at some of the blogs written by authors whose books you read. What do they talk about? Is it interesting? Would you want to get it in your mailbox each time they posted? How long is it? Do they ramble?

Yes, it’s okay to add some personal things about you as a person. But treat your readers as your guest, eventually they will become friends, and as the years go buy you will find they have become best friends. When we sit down with guest, we talk about things that may interest them and find out about them. As the relationship develops, we open up about what we are doing and the things we are learning and even the things we would like help with. They become part of our lives.

I hope your blog will become more musically read as you learn to clog!