Here’s a sample article, originally published as part of the Blogging University . Sign up for one of our ten programs and launch your blog.
You’re going to publish an article today. Don’t worry about the appearance of your blog. Don’t worry if you haven’t named it yet, or if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click on the “New article” button and tell us why you’re here.
What’s your objective?
- Your new readers need context. What will you be talking about? Why should they read your blog?
- This will help you focus on your ideas about your blog and how you want to develop it.
The article can be short or long, contain a personal introduction about your life, describe the mission of your blog, present a manifesto for the future or simply state your publication topics.
To help you get started, here are a few questions:
- Why do you create a public blog instead of a personal diary?
- What themes will you cover?
- Who is your blog’s target audience?
- If your blog makes it through its first year, what do you hope to have achieved?
Answering these questions doesn’t lock you into a definitive path. The beauty of blogging is that it’s constantly evolving as you learn, develop and interact with others. However, it’s a good idea to know where and why you’re starting out. Articulating your objectives may simply help to bring new ideas for articles.
Not sure how to get started? Just write down the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of an excellent book on the writing process, argues that it’s necessary to allow yourself a “messy first draft”. This is an essential lesson: start by writing, and you’ll take care of editing your text later.
Once you’re ready to publish, assign your article three to five tags that describe its subject: literature, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, etc. These tags will help visitors interested in these topics to find you in the Reader. Make sure one of these tags is “zerotohero”, so that new bloggers can find you too.
