Perhaps you have started a blog because it seems fun and easy and you’ve always wanted to write. Or you have a product that you want to promote. Maybe you’re launching a new company and need to develop a website that will grab the attention of potential customers and keep them coming back.
Good writing is essential for a blog or website. Too many people post material that is filled with spelling or grammatical errors, or their convoluted sentences don’t make any sense. I don’t know about you, but I won’t return to a blog or website where I have to struggle to understand what the person is trying to say.
Sometimes the simplest writing—such as explaining the benefit of your new product—is the most difficult to do. And that breezy style you hope to achieve in your blog will probably take more drafts than you expect and, at least initially, the guidance of an objective editor.
For example, one of my writing students was eager to start a blog. Her writing style and sense of humor are tailor-made for blogs, and I told her to go for it. She had great ideas for her first posts, worked hard on them, and sent them to me for a final edit before she published them. So, to give you an idea of the work I did for her, here is one of her blog posts as she sent it to me:
Princess Cami and the Tacos
I was so proud of myself for getting dinner in the oven, a beautiful pork loin chop, baked apples, just what my teenage daughter loves and in time for when she walked in the door hungry, or so I thought.
“Hey,” I say as she comes in the kitchen.
“Hi, what’s for dinner?” She dumped her backpack on the floor and sits at the table.
“It’s almost ready, pork and baked apples.”
“Pork and apples? Can’t we have tacos?”
“Um, no, I already finished cooking, it will be ready in ten minutes.” “But I really want tacos, please just make tacos.” She lies her head on the table as her voice reaches whining stage.
“No, it is almost out of the oven,” my voice reaching the pissed off stage. “I’m not cooking tacos. I already made dinner.”
“Pleeeease, I was looking forward to tacos.”
“Well why didn’t you tell me you wanted tacos earlier?”
“You didn’t ask. C’mon, just cook tacos.”
“OH MY GOD, If you want tacos, everything’s in the fridge, cook them yourself!” I yell as I left the room, stomp upstairs and slam my bedroom door. I admit, I’m a door slammer. “This is not princess Cami land,” I yell. She yells back, “I know! If it were, I’d be getting tacos!”
And here is the final version, after I lightly edited it:
Princess Cami and the Tacos
I am so proud of myself for getting dinner in the oven—a beautiful pork loin chop with baked apples—in time for when my teenage daughter walks in the door hungry. Just what she loves. Or so I think.
“Hey,” I say as she comes in the kitchen.
“Hi. What’s for dinner?” She dumps her backpack on the floor and sits at the table.
“It’s almost ready. Pork and baked apples.”
“Pork and apples? Can’t we have tacos?”
“Um, no. I already made it and it’ll be ready in ten minutes.”
“But I really want tacos. Please just make tacos.” She lays her head on the table as her voice reaches the whining stage with alarming speed.
“No. It’s almost out of the oven.” My voice has already reached the pissed-off stage. “I’m not cooking tacos. I already made dinner.”
“Pleeeease. I was looking forward to tacos.”
“Well, why didn’t you tell me you wanted tacos earlier?”
“You didn’t ask. C’mon, just cook tacos.”
“OH MY GOD. If you want tacos, everything’s in the fridge, cook them yourself!”
I stomp upstairs and slam my bedroom door. I admit, I’m a door slammer. I reopen it. “This is not Princess Cami land,” I yell.
“I know!” she yells back. “If it were, I’d be getting tacos!”