Blogging and Writing 101 Part 1: 15 Things That Will Help You Blog Better

Blogging better

Quote: A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest. - C. S. Lewis 

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"When last did you write anything?" asked the elderly man to the millennial whose eyes were fixed on the screen of his phone. 

"Just a few seconds ago."

"What did you write?" 

"I complained about the heat and posted a photo of me in this vest."

"Do you intend that to help anyone?"

"Not really. It's what we do all the time. Does it have to help someone for it to make sense?" 

"I wasn't saying that. When was the last time you wrote something that helped anyone?" the old man asked again. 

"Mmmmhhh, I can't remember", the lad replied. 

The old man sulked. 

"That's how a generation dies: when either everyone is saying everything that is wrong or when nobody is saying anything that is right."

The lad ignored him. 

*******

I agree with the old man and I bet you me that this generation has innumerable people who talk about everything, but very few who talk about what is meaningful. 

This is the 21st Century, and writing has become bleaker. 

This generation has quite a number of people like me. Bloggers. Writers. Attention freaks. Naysayers. Ranters. Braggarts. Naggers. Stereotypes. We have quite a number of us cajoling this unique art. And mostly, we crop up thanks to a crooked motivation and a learned mind; then we keep writing the wrong stuff. That's why finding someone to mentor you in writing is tough game. (But, again, never ask someone to be your mentor. Don't. It complicates everything. It used to work sometime back, but not anymore. I'd rather you follow them silently while asking questions and direction along the way. Get a mentor and intentionaly be taught by them. Just refuse to let them know it.)

As an ardent lover of the pen, and because you are different and you don't take this for granted, you understand that there is this thing about writing that makes it more than just a unique art: the embroidering of words, of emotions, of feelings, of paths and the intertwining of the mind, the eye, the ear, the heart and the soul; just within its realm, there can only be found one other art - music. Writing is unique. And this is what excites most writers. We love it when words seem to just fall into each other, when they seem to embrace the mind, when they seem to give birth...  

No, I'm not an expert on this topic. But I think I can offer my views on the same. I am sure it will help a few. 

In this first post on blogging and writing, and in celebrating what it has become to the millennial, I will share with you what nobody ever told me before I started blogging, and what I've come to understand along the way. I'll address the blog and blogging itself, then I'll talk about mastering the process of writing in part two. 

Note: I agree with Pastor John Piper that as we continue to write, revelation keeps pouring in and it forces us to think beyond where we begun. I begun by wanting to share this in one post but the information I have is far much more than one post can accommodate. So I'll have to do another blog to finish it off. 

Here goes...

If you are thinking of owning a blog (free blogs can be gotten from Tumblr, Google/Blogger or WordPress) or you already have one, 

1. Start by changing your blog domain to something everyone won't have to think a lot about before getting there. 

Don't call your blog stupid High School names (unless you're in High School and you intend to remain there forever.) Don't call it something flaky. Don't make people Google seven times before they get to your blog. (By the third time, they'd have given up.) If you want us to take you seriously by what you're writing, let's see it in what you call your blog. Make it simple. Use your name/s. Think long term. Use your area of specialty. If you want to be writing via the same platform years from now, think about a blog name that you would still be proud of years from now. Writing, in itself, is graduation from the mediocre, so don't do it a disservice. 

2. Write, post and share often. 
Post to all your social media feeds. Feed people with the reality that you now own a blog and that you post often. Consistency in writing and posting implies that you take blogging seriously and that you are passionate about what you are doing.

3. Interact with readers whenever they comment on your posts on social media. 
It makes them know you care that they read and that you are a real person. And that you are not a robot. And that it's you (the person they know) who writes and posts those blogs; that they are not scheduled and computer-moderated posts. Actually, writing and blogging is more about your readers than it is about you. 

4. Make the blogs sharable. 

Get a blog template (the appearance and look of your blog) that will make it possible to share your blogs to different platforms (social media, email e.t.c.). There are a couple of free site-sharing extensions for both Google Chrome and Firefox if your blog template doesn't have a sharing widget. AddThis is one of them. Also, leave room for comments.

5. Register your blog to a permanent website domain because that's the only way Google and ad sellers can get you cash. 

Yes, most of us join the blogging community in order to earn cash. That's a good thought, but it works best for registered domains/websites and only when your blog traffic is noticeably good. You cannot make blogging profitable overnight. This is not gambling. If you need quick money you haven't worked for, tafuta watu wa SportPesa na Lotto. 

6. If you already have a blog, know quite well that there won't be comments on your blog for a while. Maybe for months. Even years. It's normal even when statistics and blog traffic tell you that we're visiting and that we are reading.

This is a litmus test for you, because if the reason for your blogging is something less than your love for writing, you may quit rather fast. So now, closely look at your blog traffic (this is mostly "the dashboard") and allow it to be some sort of encouragement and motivator.

7. While looking at your blog's traffic, recognize the best times to post and share your blogs to your social media feeds and/or emails. 

Don't just post. Post with the intention of reaching a specific cluster of people at that time. Then get used to resharing your posts. They are YOUR posts, man. You can do with them whatever you want. 

8. Within your blog, once in a while, offer free stuff that you know 80% of your target audience is interested in. 

People will always come back to a site that offers free stuff with no strings attached. Free stuff is such a motivator for most internet visitors towards them coming back again. 

Also, have a widget that offers a free email subscription, and probably one that offers translation to other languages. This will expand your audience a great deal. 

9. Post links to your previous posts within your new blogs. 

This means two things for/to your readers: (a) that you track your posts and know what you're posting about and (b) that you understand the rule of interconnecting concepts and idea-continuity in writing. It also ensures that people stick around for long and read more.  

10. Do what I am doing with this post. (Hehe) 

Here is what I am doing: I am dividing one long blog post into two parts, then I'll connect them in the long run. Why? Because 90% of my audience are young people who love TV Shows/series. This audience has a short attention span. (It's a culture thing, by the way.) Breaking posts into parts ensures two things: (a) that I don't overshare in one post and risk people not reading the entire post and (b) that I get everyone who benefitted from the first part of the post to come back a second time (and probably a third time because they'll then find that I've already written more.) 

11. If you want fame in six months, quit blogging. Or become controversial.
Controversy, like we witness on many secular blogs and websites, breeds contempt. And contempt is good for them because it results into increased site traffic.

But like everything else that is positive and that lasts in its good impact, blogging requires patience. I am Christian blogger. Controversy is the last thing on my mind, especially if I intend to use it for fame. Fame is cheap. My eternal being is not worth such a lame step.

12. The more you post, the more likely your SEO (search engine optimization) will go up, and your audience will expand.

We don't get more visitors by posting "once in a while". To get people's attention and redirect them to your blog, you need to keep blogging and posting very very very often. Also, we do so by giving our blogs appropriate and straight forward titles. But don't risk overposting or giving your posts inappropriate or misleading headings. This will definitely pull down your writing game and you'll lose readers due to being a fake.

13. It takes both time and dedication to maintain a blog and keep it active. 

If you are not ready to sacrifice a few pleasures in order to keep your blog running, you may need to quit before you're overwhelmed. Also, remember that there is no "appropriate" time for you to start blogging. Just start it now. 

14. Put some images in your blogs. Embed audio or videos if possible. 

They help with the reading. They help calm the mind. They help in breaking prose. Images, audio or videos sometimes have a greater and more compelling power on the mind than words. They happen to help the message stick longer. 

15. Not once should your blog or what you post or what guest writers post (by the way guest writers are good for your blog because they help in breaking monotony) compromise what you stand for. 

If you are a Christian, and saved for that matter, let it be seen in what you post. Don't waver between opinions. Your unwavering voice as a blogger really matters in bringing clarity and sense into this imbalanced world. 

That's all for now. 

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In part two, I'll show you how my writing process happens, what inspires me, how to maintain your writing mojo, how to work on multiple blog posts and why it is important not to rush posting stuff before you've made it"mature". Read Part Two here.



Bonface Morris.  

Personal Growth: Here's What You Need to Know About Growth

Quote: Grow! Because you can, because you should and because it is good. - Me

Guys, I've been wanting to write. True story. You know, like when I wake up and I just wanna pen down my first blog of the year and stuff like that; like I wanna tell you people, "Alright, I know. It is a new year and I need to unload all my petty wisdom onto a blog to leave y'all oooh-ing and aaah-ing e.t.c. e.t.c. while at the same time I'm trying to play God by giving you instructions on how to walk through the year..."? But then, when I'm almost grabbing my phone and/or keyboard to type that "gibberish" and bring life to this cursor, life happens, and I postpone it into the next day.

(Come on, maybe I'll beat this cursor at its own wars this year, who knows?)

And I've been forgiving myself to have been doing this over and over again. (And this is not the "forgive yourself and move on" kind of mantra-ish cliche, but the "forgive yourself because you deserve it" type.)

So, I've ended up writing.

This post is for everyone. It is for those of us who make resolutions at the beginning of the year, the ones who think of a New Year as a "new beginning", as something breathed by a god, some gift from God, as an opportunity, as a brand new page, blah blah blah... And it is also for those of us who make resolutions and set goals throughout the year, those who only see the 1st of January as the result of a ticking clock once made possible by an infinitely eternal God. (Time is in His hands, no? He created time. Time is because He was.) These ones look at a New Year as a mere change to the calendar(s) of men (anyway, even mankind disagrees on dates and times...) and that what was will continue to be unless man decides to make such and such a change.

This blog is for the planner and also for the one person who is reluctant to take action; for the fearless and the bold. It is for everyone. It is for the one who acknowledges that growth (undergoing development and achieving a specific level of maturity) is necessary because we can grow, we should  grow and because it is good to grow.

Now, whoever you are and wherever you are, here are the few things to note about personal growth and achieving a better you:

1. Personal growth is more about you than it's about us.
Rant all you want about all you've been through, about where you are, about where you come from, about all the "fake" people you grew up amongst (there ain't nothing like that anyways), about your level of education or your limited exposure to it, about your lack of "connections", about how "unkempt" and directionless your leaders are, about your tiny church na watu unadhani hawaoni mbele, about the limited resources that are at your disposal, but you know what? It doesn't take anyone else to change you. It only takes you to begin the change in you. You are the first step towards your own personal growth. You are the first bold and unequalled step towards a better you. You are. Other people have so tiny an effect on what you choose and decide for yourself. So work on how you view growth as an individual, rather than how you see it through the eyes of those around you. It's all about you. (And God helping you make it of course.)

2. Growth occurs differently in everyone and it takes different courses and amounts of time.
You can't say, "I wanna be slim like so-and-so in the same way/time they achieved it." You'll die, man. And we'll bury you. And that'll be end of the story. But you can say, "I wanna lose weight, drop a bad habit or two, become better in such and such a thing only the way I can, so dear Lord, give me all the Wisdom, will, skill, people and strength I need in order to achieve this." Then you'll make it.
Here's how it goes: you may use another person's success or progress to measure your level of growth, BUT NEVER use it to compare the two of you in relation to the same area of growth. You'll die. And we'll bury you. (And, of course, we'll eat at your funeral.) Then that'll be the end of the story.

3. It doesn't matter what people are saying. If you're on the right track, keep going.
You cannot grow unless you shut your ears to all kinds of naysayers. Don't allow your motivation to be thwarted by prophets of doom. If you're on the right track, and God agrees with it, honey, keep going. You'll make it.

4. There are things that change through declaration, then there are things that change through hard work, effort and commitment. Notice the difference.
Lemme say that again: prayer and claiming God's promises in Scripture are good. All great (yes, not "good", not "average", but "great") Christians should practice both. But those two should never replace hard work, commitment, faithfulness, dedication, determination, truth and focus. Let God play His part as you do yours. 

You may pray all you want, but always remember "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth." (Proverbs 10:4, NIV) and God blesses the works of our hands, not empty talk: (Psalms 90:17, NIV) "May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us - yes, establish the work of our hands.")

5. Do what needs to be done, and stop calling it a resolution.
Yes, sometimes we just need to do what should be done. It's called growing up. It's called maturity. It's called taking responsibility. And most of such stuff ain't no resolution.
You know when people should just pay their tithe, or love and care for their bae or family, or pray and read Scripture via their Bible apps and they claim these are resolutions?
Resolution? What resolution? You SHOULD be doing those things already. Just do them, man/lady.

6. If your growth may depend on another person in one way or another, then they need to be focused on achieving it in the same way you do.
Yes, the success of some of our goals may be intertwined with other people and what they do. And yes, that can bring us to a real slowdown if the other party reiterates on a go-slow.
Relationships or marriage or worship teams or an organization at startup level or a business are such examples. Anything involving the absolute consensus of two separate entities can only succeed when both parties unanimously agree that the page they are opening and the growth they want to experience is what it should be. (So help us Dear Lord.)

7. It's normal not to grow all the time. You shouldn't grow all the time.
That "what's the next big thing" mentality is a dangerous mentality. It's not a bad one, but it puts us in a dangerous place. It makes us think we are failures the moment growth isn't experienced.
God rested. On the seventh day, He rested. That doesn't mean that He wasn't doing anything. Rest is something. Rest helps us reflect on growth, so that when growth pauses, we may use that time to reflect on things and say, "Yeah, it is good. So far, it is good." Rest helps us use that time to see where we may have overgrown or "undergrown".

So now, in conclusion, God desires that we grow. All the time. And no matter the perspective we may have about a new year and personal growth, here's one verse that proves God desires continuous growth in us: Psalms 1:3 (NIV) "He (the Christian) is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

Bonface Morris.