I received the following question in the comments of the previous post:

“Seeing how you’re commenting on how you’ve changed over time would you consider writing about your advice for new bloggers? I’ve set one up, mostly for myself, to track my writing of RPG adventures and what I’m learning along the way.”

Thanks to Michael for the question. I’m not an expert blogger. I’ve learned a great deal from my own experience and from actual experts. I’ll share some highlights of what I’ve learned and how I approach it.

I don’t follow “best practice”

Market research firms have studied how to maximize blog traffic for some time. They’ve used that research to create a collection of best practice recommendations.

I don’t follow best practices where they rub up against my personality and principles. I would probably have more readers and more blog traffic if I did. “More” is not my top priority.

For example, experts recommend writing at a sixth grade reading level. I don’t do that.

Sustainable Posting Frequency

One reason I started a blog was to create a writing habit. Setting a deadline is a method for doing that.

I publish at 10 AM on Thursdays. I’ve kept that for several years. Originally, I chose that time because I believed it mattered for post traffic. For the type of writing I do, it doesn’t.

I have kept that schedule because it requires discipline. I find creating a set day and time reinforces my writing habit.

I only post one essay a week. I’m slow, I overthink, and I do a lot of revisions.

Post Length

I played with length for a year or two and settled on my current target of 1000 words. I tried very short posts published on a daily basis when I started. That got me into the writing habit I was trying to build but the length of posts didn’t quite fit.

I went to longer posts that I published whenever I got them done for a while. Those tended to be overwrought, and contained too many ideas all at once. Most readers don’t read long posts. They skim them.

There’s no point in writing 2,500 word essays if I can get a few actionable ideas across in 975 words for readers who are only going to read 150.

Keeping posts to around 1,000 words is not easy. I often go over. I have a tendency to get into tangents and give too many analogies. Having a word target helps me to improve my ideas and make them as clear as possible.

Clear > Clever

Noticing things

Noticing things is where I get most of my blog post ideas.

I notice patterns of conversation on social media or the same question coming up on /OSR Reddit. I notice the way players discuss choices or how they respond to certain types of encounters.

An unexpected side effect of blogging has been an enhancement of my curiosity about people, what they think and why. When I see a pattern of ideas or behaviors, I start asking questions.

What makes that person believe that? What are the underlying assumptions?

When I notice something, I write it down. I have about 90 blog posts in my drafts folder. Most of them are only a title with nothing in the body. Some have a bullet list or a sentence with the big idea of a post. 9 in 10 will never be anything.

Embrace uncertainty

I do a lot of small experiments with this blog. They are subtle and I don’t point them out to readers most of the time. I try a topic or format to see if it will work.

I’ve learned that posts I think will do well, are usually just OK. Others that I think will get an average amount of views, do better. Sometimes I can figure out why that is and replicate it.

When something works, I do more of it. If it doesn’t, I try a couple different versions and if it still doesn’t work, I get rid of it. Things that work for me, won’t work for you.

You have to try things you notice and find out.

Who is it for?

A perennial theme of this blog is “Who is it for?”

That’s another thing I learned from Seth Godin.

If my blog was entirely for me, I wouldn’t publish it. It would be a folder on my computer.

Michael wrote that his blog is mostly for himself. “Mostly” is not “entirely.”

Who else is it for? Figure that out. Write for them, whoever they are.

A blog is outloud and in public. It is for someone else even if it is about you and your ideas.

This blog is for a specific group of people. I am part of that tribe (affiliate link) so I have a good idea of what they want or need.

I serve those people as well as I am able.

Merely my opinion

There are a lot of ways to go about blogging especially if your primary intention is to blog as a hobby.

I don’t think there is any one best way because we are all different. There are some practices that have been validated through rigorous testing. Those best practices are appropriate for businesses trying to generate a lot of sales leads, some are not so great for gaming bloggers.

Post on a regular basis that you can sustain even when you are busy or don’t feel like writing. Pay attention to things that invoke a feeling in your gut or you notice and no one else is writing about. Experiment with length, topic, and format until you figure out what works for you.

Decide who you are writing for and write for them.

That’s what I do, maybe that will work for you. Good luck. Keep writing.