Rachelle Gardner posted a blog the other day about what she dislikes about writers' blogs. Here is a little bit of what she said in case you don't want to click the link (don't worry, I'm lazy about clicking links too sometimes):
→ A humor writer whose blog doesn't seem funny to me.
→ A memoir writer whose blog consists of reflections on life (something I enjoy) but they're just boring.
→ A writer who rants and complains about the publishing business in general or agents in particular . (And I recognize the difference between ranting and simply processing inevitable disappointments.)
→ A writer whose blog has irregular and infrequent posts.
→ A blog that is really unfocused and doesn't know what it's about.
Read some of the comments from fellow bloggers if you have time- you'll get an idea of what they're looking for too.
What do you all think about that? Do you generally agree with those statements or are you okay with a blogger "breaking" some of those etiquette-type rules?
For me, when I started reading blogs, I really just wanted to get to know the author better. Whether he/she is an aspiring or published author, an agent, or editor. I love getting sneak peaks into their lives, finding out about their writing process, or learning a little piece of wisdom. But I'm not sure my opinion of blogs is as strict as Rachelle's. I just really want it to feel genuine to me, no matter what the content. I really don't mind if it's a post about someone's day, their families, their writing or something majorly profound. I don't mind if their blog is all over the place- I think it makes it more interesting. Honestly, as long as I'm entertained (which is really not hard to do for me- I'm pretty easy to please)...I don't really care what it's about. Plus, if someone doesn't have a regular post schedule, I don't really notice that either- to me, family, writing, and other personal related stuff are more important than getting a blog out, so it's not a big deal if someone doesn't write a blog for a week. I'll still be there when they come back.
I guess my only pet peeve is SUPER long blog posts. Like, novel-length posts (which frankly, this one seems to be almost there so feel free to stop reading at any time) that take me a million years to read. Of course, everyone has their own opinion as to what constitutes as a long post, so I won't get into that.
I really want to know what you all think about the "etiquette" of blogs. What stands out to you in a blog, whether it's good or bad? What do you like reading about, and does it always have to be gleaming pearls of wisdom? Are there any "rules" that you think a blogger should absolutely follow?
And now for the winner (completely chosen at random from this site- everyone got a range of numbers for the amount of entries they had) of The Sorcerers Companion!
Jennie Bailey!! Woohoo Jennie! Congrats! Email me your address and I'll get that out to you asap!!
