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Finding Your Voice - Should You Blog?
I have heard it said that blogging isn't for everyone. Some have heard me reply resoundingly with, "Yes, it is." If you can carry on a conversation, then you can blog. Not everyone is a great writer. Not everyone is a good writer. Many people darn right stink at it. But just like anything else, practice makes perfect... "Sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can."
The best thing I ever did for my writing was to set some rules. Why do I know what rules to adhere to? Because they are the ones that hurt me, hurt my writing, when I broke them. And, for me, the discovery of these rules has been such a passionate thing, that I wanted to share a bit of the process. It is not hard. When you make it hard by thinking too much about it, then it becomes hard.
Finding your voice.
-You do not have to be a great speller or a grammar-know-it-all to find your voice. That is why God created spell check and grammar check, use them.
-Know "who" you are writing for - who is your audience? Are you writing for the job seeker? For your family? For your colleagues? For anyone interested? Only for you? These are all great targets. Just make sure you have it straight and you follow that aim. Connecting with the intended audience is the goal, right? You can't do that without thinking about them.
-Your audience may be no one and this, blogging, is just a practice in finding yourself. This is the best reason of all. I cannot tell you how much I have learned about me in writing for someone else. Clarity about who I am and how I got here is divine. And I am not talking about the "Divine," I am talking about the life struggles, joys, exposures, denials, experiences that find me here - the place where I currently dwell - figuritively, not literally.
-Once you find your voice, then you can determine whether to publish or not. Everyone should write, not everyone should publish nor should everything be published. Think about it like a conversation.
Since continuing from here will break one of my cardinal rules of blogging, this is all for now. Parts two and three are to come.
Make it a great day.
by rayannethorn
part one: Finding Your Voice
part two: Finding Your Goal
part three: Finding your Structure
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ted Fitter on -
Thanks Rayanne. Good guidance on how to get connected in a lot of different ways.
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Permalink Reply by Rayanne on -
Thanks Ted!
This is such a great community and the more people that share, the more people there are to learn from...
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Scott on -
THANK YOU Rayanne! GREAT advice in all three posts! I'd like to add two tips... I started a blog in July of 2009, and from the onset gave myself permission to miss a post here and there. I didn't want to pre-write anything, so I gave myself the OK to NOT feel guilty if I skipped a day. It really took the pressure off, and while I do typically follow a schedule, and I do typically blog every day, I know that when I am writing it is really coming from the heart, as well as the heat of the moment. I also want to mention that it's ok to change direction mid-stream. I used to write for job seekers, but I found that many of the comments I was receiving were from entrepreneurs, business owners, line managers, and average "rank and file" employees who were seeking just as much motivation... so now I write for anyone who wants to read. (www.hireeffect.blogspot.com if you're interested...) Oh, and I didn't post today! :)
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Permalink Reply by Rayanne on
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That is very good advice, Jennifer. After of year of writing every Mon - Fri - with a post up before 5am EST, I decided that this was my forum and I could get that post up any time during a 24 hour period. It removed so much anxiety for me and made it like you said, more "writing from the heart."
This past weekend was actually the first time during those two years that I have written a Bonus Track (actually two) over the weekend. I guess I was driven to do so - the whole writing from the heart thing, eh?
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Permalink Reply by Sally Raade on -
Hi Rayanne,
I've always liked reading your blogs. I don't mind doing karaoke but finding my voice by blogging? I will have to try to see what it sounds like when people read it. Perhaps this year, it could my year to start blogging.
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Permalink Reply by Sally Raade on
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Hi Rayanne,
Do you have various blogs? Perhaps one for the industry and another one on a personal thoughts kinda blog?
Rayanne said:@Sally - you should definitely start blogging! Give it a whirl!
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Permalink Reply by Rayanne on
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I have several...
I write one called the New Front Porch (wordpress). I post every 1-3 months on that one, depending on how many projects I have going. I write for my company blog, Broadbean. I just started a blog on Tmblr called Bonus Tracks. And I keep a notes section on my Facebook page...
I will be starting another that is strictly for poetry, I used to write poetry on MySpace all the time...
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