Writing for someone other than yourself

Photo by P. Lynne Design (c) 2016

Writing is what cures all.  It cures all sadness, anger, confusion, you name it.   Not really, but sometimes I wish it would. For instance:

I have a personal online journal.  It is not really online.  I type in Ms. Word, and it is a document.  I type out what I am feeling for that day.  Yesterday was about how disgusted I was at my finances, and how my bank treats me and my money.  Don’t worry, all banks do that to a degree.  Another post for another day.  Another time it was about how happy I was to find my business coach, Renae.  That too I will tell for another day, but the point is I feel better when I write.  It calms me down to a level where I can type out my thoughts, and read then back at any time.

Sometimes, I feel like sharing.  This is where My Ambiance Life (comes into play, and even then sometimes I feel like I am oversharing.  I try not to let all of my feeling out, and make sure that I keep you in mind when I write my posts, especially when I write about human injustice, i.e. recent events with #blacklivesmatter (such as Alton Sterling) or Pulse Club killings.   Some people want to read what I have to say, while others want either ignore, or want me to shut my mouth and let go.  However, your feelings are my concern, but not to the point where I stop and think every time I place my fingers on the keyboard.  The way I work is I think about the subject, then title, the rest flows as I type.  If it is not right, as I have said in a previous post, I do not post it, and it goes into my “work on it” folder for each month.  So far, December 2016 looks like a busy month for MAL

So, what am I trying to say in this post about your writing?  If you write a blog, think about who your audience is, how they feel, and write based on that.  In other words, research.  Read other blogs with your same topics, but do not copy their style, for your style is of your own making.  If you want to put your own spin on the subject matter, fine. Consider the time of year you are writing about, especially if you are writing a lifestyle blog (such as my now deleted Simply Organized Crafts blog).  For example, you would not write about all things Christmas in the middle of May, but it would be appropriate to say something about the after Christmas sale in January, or do a Christmas in July type post on July 20.  (Not July 4th, if you are in the U.S.).  Be mindful of these things.

Next time, I will explore this a little further to talk about writing for content-mill sites (BlogMutt, BlogHer, Et. Al).  There are some things that I have learned about these types of websites, which are not bad, but if you are not careful, you can be removed from them permanently.