Getting Started with Writing Weblogs

Someone that I knew when we were high school students just e-mailed me to say she had been given an assignment to get a blog started up by the end of September, and she asked for links and reading suggestions so she could understand the basics. English is not her first language, and with a quick deadline I know she’s not interested in the history of blogging, and I don’t think she’s ready to for suggestions of blogging tools or hosts.

Here is the quick answer I banged out for her. (What did I miss?)

Since some people think of blogs online journals where they pour out their emotions, and others think of them as research journals, and others will mostly comment on what other people have published, there are so many ways to blog that I can’t give a single answer. In general, I would suggest that you look at what your competitors are doing and spend some time watching before you jump in, but with the deadline you mention, it looks like you don’t have that luxury.

However, here are some resources I would suggest for starters.

I don’t have a specific handout on writing for blogs, but here are my handouts on writing e-text in general…

http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/e-text/index.html

I have often assigned a book called Writing for the Web 3.0 by Crawford Killian (though it’s a bit dated).

Here’s a brief YouTube video that I use when I introduce my students to blogging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w72rJMMDJBA

I hope that’s helpful.