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In the first week of the course we've been learning about analysing publications as a step towards getting your work published. One part of this is determining who the target audience is. Obviously an extraordinarily important and relevant point. The basic lesson? Write what your audience will want to read, what is relevant and interesting to them.
It got me thinking about my blog. Do I write for me? Or do I write for you? My readers? Is that the key to a really successful blog? Or is blogging different? I suppose it might be considering I am the freelance writer, the staff writer, the sub-editor, the features editor and the Editor-in-chief of my own blog. I therefore get published all the time on my own blog. Not so much competition @talesofataitai.
To be honest, I think I do a bit of both. My posts (which I never schedule) are certainly a reflection of the mood or circumstance or situation I'm in in my life at that very moment, and are therefore a cathartic way for me to digest whatever is going on in my head. But then as my time as a blogger goes on, and the more I read other people's blogs, particularly the really popular ones, I learn more and more about what engages readers, what prompts people to comment, what gets a reaction out of people. And I think I'd be lying if I said I didn't love getting a response from people (especially in the form of comment love), particularly when you know you've made people have a laugh.
So, yep. Both is my answer.
What about you? Do you write for your readers? Or do you write for yourself? Are there some form of unwritten blogging audience rules I should know about?
25 comments:
I was pleasantly surprised (amazed really) when people started to read my blog and I didn't actually know them.
Now like you I probably write for both myself and others. Some posts I know will not really hit the mark but I want to write them. Every now and then I am surprised though and get lots of comments on a post I thought was a bit dodgy!
I love your blog - I think the way you are doing it is perfect!
I write 100% for me. Some days I get a lot of comments, others, well, it's crickets. And you know what? That's OK with me.
I worked in magazines as a writer/sub-editor before I had kids, so I spent many years writing for others and I'm really loving writing purely for me. What I'm thinking, feeling in that moment. It's pure therapy. My hobby. I love it.
Good luck!
I feel like I write for me, but am conscious of an audience. It's weird. Kind of like looking in a mirror with other people watching? Which is probably why I deleted my last post. I think i care too much what other people think, and I shouldn't.
I wish my blog was like feature writing, where the writing is 100% objective. I get sick of the sound of my own voice.
You sound like you're enjoying the course, good for you lady x
Just as you, I think I write for both - me and y readers.
But this wasn't always this way. I started writing for me, as something like a travel journal that I couldn't loose along my way. Then, I started getting traffic from people all over the world that were interested in what I wrote and the pictures I took. This encouraged me to keep on writing!
I still consider my blog a journal, but have changed a bit the perspective - instead of being loaded with information, I reflect my thoughts, fears and experiences while traveling as well - which I think people are more interested in reading. After all, if they want a travel guide, they'd buy lonely planet ;)
I write for me, but as said previously, I realise I may have an audience. So it is more like my journal than my tell-all diary. I love your style.
I write for me mostly, in hopes that what I say entertains those who read it too. When I first started I was too shy to tell anyone I knew for fear they'd find me self-indulgent and even more so, for strangers to read about my thoughts. 12 followers on, I am still learning about how I write, why I write and what I write about. It's fun and I can't wait to look back in a few years and see how much I've grown as a person! You keep doing what you do cause it makes me smile!
www.easytheretigerrr.blogspot.com
I've not been writing my blog for very long, and it is meant to be for me, as a way os preventing the total feeling of despair I get when I am away from S for any length of time. My daughter suggested it to me.
However having read other peoples blogs, I started wanting people to read mine, then when a couple fo friends read it and said they loved it, I was spurred on even more. Now whenever I write a new entry I link it on my facebook, and I get so excited when someone lets me know they have read it - it's kind of exhilarating!
So, initially for me, now for both
Lou x
Both is my answer too. I'd say 65% me, 35% others.
There are times when I feel like I just NEED to write. I find it therapeutic at times. In those instances, I'm writing purely for me, to make myself feel better and clearer in my head.
And there are times when I think of something that I'd like to write about that I know a lot of people will relate too. Those posts are a little bit for me, a little bit for my readers :)
xxx
It's a strong 'both' response from me but probably leaning towards the reader more as I'm trying to build my blogging community and help the readers & followers connect with each other.
I'm interested in what you wrote about never scheduling your posts - that's a whole other bloggy conversation altogether.
xx F
yep, both over here too, i think
i like this post, very interesting and gooooood on you for taking on that course. I am impressed and a wee bit envious!
Gill xo
These are good questions. I write and blog for me and and am continually surprised that anyone apart from my immediate family is interested in my musings, because my life is very suburban and routine oriented. I think the funny posts garner the most comments but then again so do the really happy ones,and the really sad ones- the most comments I ever received were after the birth of my child and after the death of my Grandma. I think people are attracted to blog writers who've found their "voice" and are truly authentic. You are lucky to live in Honkers. I miss the soothing sounds of the escalator, the great shopping, the excellent food, the airport train and just about everything else. FF xx
Hi Bridget, I think it depends on what your blog is about. When I started looking at blogs, it was mainly for the pictures and the interior and fashion inspiration. That's what drew me to start a blog because I wanted to share inspirational pictures that I loved and comment on them. Just like looking through a magazine. Personal blogs didn't appeal to me that much at the time but quite a few have now sucked me in as the writing is so clever and moorish.. just like your blog. You should definitely continue down this writing path as you are so clever and talented at it. I think I like to inspire through pictures and things that make my heart skip a beat. I am a visual person and sometimes find it hard to articulate what I feel. To be able to do what you do easily, is extremely admirable. Leahxx
me, always me, has to be me.
i've written for my readers in the past and it churned out my absolute worst writing ever.
when i write for me, it comes from the heart, the words rise from my soul and they're honest - my best writing.
~x~
I'm not sure who I write for. Mostly I just write about Beijing...things that I think are funny/interesting and that I think would interest other people...50, 50 I guess
What a great post - and thanks for the shout-out. I write for me and for my audience. If I wrote entirely for me I think I'd bore even myself. I've been writing for an audience for so long that I even write my diaries as though someone in 100 years might read them - and skim over the boring bits. Sad but true.
Thanks for Rewinding at the Fibro.
I do a little bit of both, but if pressed, I'd say mainly for my readers.
I mostly write for myself. I feel like the good posts are the ones I write for myself. Sometimes I write for my family or friends. I try not to write for the imagines reader because then I get caught up in wondering what they want to read.
As I write a blog relating strongly to my business, I aim to write for my audience, but I agree, I do it for myself too. As much as I might promote the idea of keeping journals, memoir etc my blog is largely doing that job for me. For me it's a little taste of my own medicine.
btw I love the Habitually Chic blog you reference to. the interiors breathtaking.
i write like you, whatever is clever and sparks my mind. I'm hopeful to capture like minded individual who can share commonality with.
a good break in my day to have a chuckle and share. fun post, see you on the rewind.
I schedule my posts... I have SO MANY of the darn things ready to go that I'm constantly swapping in and out of the schedule depending on my mood. You know how it is!
I write for me. I write about the things that mean something to me, or about things that I want to find out more from you. Either way, it's all about me!! Heh, heh!! x
I write for both or maybe I write for myself but hope that someone out there will feel the same way. I think unless you are writing to a very specific crowd- fashion, art, food where every keyword counts you have to be doing it for you or you will get too discouraged!
It's a fine balance, and it changes with my mood. Sometimes I'm writing to entertain or be funny. Other times, it's a purge, or an outpouring of love, just for me and mine.
I write for my readers and myself. If I just wrote for me, it might get a little tedious and I may as well just post it under my mattress!
Still a great post. :-)
Thanks for REwinding at the Fibro.
Hello, found your blog through the Happy Homemaker blog and boy am I glad I did! Your post on one size fits all made me laugh out loud and I'm really enjoying reading your other posts.
As for your question, I write mostly for myself as a way to record places I've been to but I can't help but write too for the people who read me.
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