The Art of Blogging

Hey there again, guys! :)

It’s been quite a long time now! Did you have a good break? Did you do anything or go anywhere special? I just spent the break back home enjoying all the free time and the stunningly nice vernal weather in beautiful Bavaria (I could definitely get used to skipping winter!!).

Well, breaks can’t last forever, so the first post for summer term is due! A blog post on blogging – sounds a little like Inception, doesn’t it? ;)

So… what makes a blog a good blog?! In order to answer this question, I browsed all the blogs that were suggested by our teachers and came to think of these five key aspects:

Layout

It may be the least important aspect but still, within seconds, the layout determines whether I want to go on reading a blog or not. Pictures, for example, give the eye a short rest from reading and can make the whole post more interesting, significant, funny or (at least) pretty – and, of course, unique!

Audience

A blog needs an audience as much as a theater does, or a zoo, or a museum, or any other place accessible for the public. I believe incorporating the audience helps to let them know that you need them. Being addressed and referred to when reading a blog always makes me feel a little closer to it. It’s more personal than just stating your thoughts or opinion and be done with it. All the good blogs I browsed managed to fulfill this aspect.

Authenticity

A blog is not about what the majority of people think, but about what you as a blogger think, about what is important to you. The blogs I felt were really authentic rather than just fit for the mass were also the ones that appealed most to me because they were so – leading to the next aspect – passionate. (One example for authenticity I found particularly astonishing and admirable is this blog. Check it out!!)

Passion

This is easily explained: passion is contagious! Even if I didn’t share the blogger’s interest or opinion, whenever I felt they were passionate about a topic, it also sparked my curiosity for their reasons to write about that specific topic. It made me want to go on reading, find out more, try to understand their point of view – what more can a blogger wish for?!

Entertainment

Entertainment doesn’t necessarily mean that all the posts need to be hilarious (but if there is one blog that really managed to give me a good laugh more than one time, it’s definitely this one). For me, any blog that fulfills the four aspects named above is almost automatically entertaining in its very own way – no matter whether it’s funny, informative or opinion-forming. And entertainment is a good way to keep the audience reading, don’t you think? :)

So much for that, but what does all this mean for my own blog?

I think I need to take care that my posts are not too long as I tend to go a little off-topic or too much into details. Maybe shorter sentences would as well facilitate the readability of my posts. I am also going to try and find topics I’m truly interested in (which is a little challenge in terms of the themed posts but still manageable) so I’ll be able to stay authentic and passionate. And I might try to enhance my technical skills to create a more sophisticated layout…but unskilled as I am, I can’t promise that last one. ;)

Hope you stay tuned! Bye-bye :)