December 2008 Archives - 2/2

Shorter is Better, But Hey – Style Matters!

I just read a quick Copyblogger post by Jim Estill about blogging as “Shorter is Better.” It was pretty well done — short, of course — providing a general overview of why it’s good to write clean, brief and concise blog posts.

I do mostly agree it’s no fun to both read and write long anything these days, but no writer should have to mute their individual style just to get their point across. The length of a sentence – or an entire post for that matter – should be no more than what conveys the information via the unique voice of its author.

Just imagine if everything sounded the same on the web — what would be the appeal of reading other than to systematically derive facts and information for consumption? If bloggers are to survive in this fiercly competitive web, than we need to still be mindful that writing of any kind can always be a work of beauty. Humans are naturally attracted to beauty – we always have been and always will be. Am I right on this?

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The Two True Fundamentals of Blogging

Many of us are still getting quickly caught up in the exciting and profitable genre of blogging. I’m no different. Ever since I started Wordful two months ago, I too have enjoyed the low barrier of entry that blogging offers, not to mention being part of multiple conversations and most of all — the limitless freedom of expression.

But I’ve got a dirty confession to make: it took over three months from the time I decided to start blogging to the time I actually did it. Any why is this? Very simple: I was thinking too much. I was thinking about everything I needed to do to get going, who I wanted to become and how much money I wanted to make. All the time I spent just thinking led to a blog with nothing on it.

There’s nothing wrong with thinking — or dreaming for that matter — but it must be balanced with action. Thought and action are the two true fundamentals of blogging, which can be further refined to creativity and writing. One cannot co-exsit without the other, otherwise you’d end up with thoughtless action or actionless thought (think about that for a quick minute). Neither scenario is productive to us blog writers and our hopes of success.

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