Let me begin by saying that I’m no expert on this topic but these are just my observations from all the blogs that I’ve read in the past. Neither am I a very good writer myself, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have things to say. Not everybody gets an opportunity to go on television, radio or even for that matter write an article in the papers about their thoughts and their views on subjects that they’re really passionate about. That, I guess is what makes blogs even more special. It’s not just about thought leadership or preaching, blogs provide you with a platform where you can actually talk about what’s on your mind.
Well, I don’t want to go on ranting about how useful blogs are and how the power of online has empowered people across the globe..blahh…blah…., I’m sure you know about all of that by now. What I really wanted to talk about in this post is ‘writing styles’. It’s funny how I happened to stumble upon a blog by this expat, who has been living in India ever since she got married to an Indian DJ. But, I’m not going to bore you with that story now! What caught my attention was how she manages to capture the essence of India so beautifully through her posts despite not belonging from here. What I also liked about her blog is that she lets the pictures do all the talking and she keeps the text to a bare minimum. Honestly, I get put-off by longish posts, regardless of which, almost all my posts are epics! Getting back to the point, Sharell’s (Yup, that’s her name) posts are so crisp and narrative that I’m eager to read more. Maybe, it also has to do with the fact that it intrigues me to know how foreigners perceive India. You should give it a read, it’s called ‘Diary of a white Indian Housewife’.
Another interesting blog I came across is called, Coconut Chutney. The author again is a woman and quite a pretty one too 😉 I follow her on Twitter. She comes across as a modern day Tamilian girl, in her early twenties, doing a course in CA, grounded and with a strong value system. What made me take notice of her writing was how she wrote the exact same way she spoke. She couldn’t care a rat’s ass about grammatical errors or punctuations; she wrote her mind. She gets comments on her posts, in the hundreds. What makes her readers come back for more? Simple. Yes, she keeps it simple, no frills attached. I personally like this style of writing better; one should be able to write about things, keeping it in-line with their thoughts. Who defined blog etiquettes anyway? Think about it, who said you’ve to wear a suit and a tie to be taken seriously? It must have been some guy who liked wearing suits in the first place! Guess what? There are many more coconut chutney’s and couch potatoes (shameless self-publicity ;P ) out there, who don’t want to be bound by definitions of right and wrong set by some schmuck behind a computer screen somewhere. Too much propaganda, huh?
So let me try to wrap this is up by briefly describing the three types of bloggers who I’ve come across:
- The Preacher: The kind of person who likes to impart wisdom, writes with a ‘I know it all’ attitude, the kind who would insert graphs, formulas , infographics and all that kind of bullshit into their post just to give you the impression that they know what they’re talking about. Well, do they really?
- The Engager: This is the type of blogger who finds a fine balance between preaching and listening. The best route to take if you’re a business blogger, if you ask me. The readers feel like they’re a part of a discussion, where the author is sincerely seeking for their opinion/views.
- The Narrator: This is the kind of blogger who shares experiences and uses case-studies/examples to put across their point. Their writing styles are very captivating because they’re essentially good narrators and would talk about a topic as if they were narrating a story.
I better stop, before I write another epic! Before I leave you, let me ask you this; does it really matter how you write if you’re successful in sharing your message/thoughts to your readers?
ragsnair.com 
I liked your classification of blogging styles into the preacher, engager and narrator. Would just like to add that the same blogger may be either of those depending on the post and the sentiments he/she attaches to it. Going through my archives I realized I have been all of these (even though they may not be shining examples).
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I really liked the article, and the very cool blog
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Hello Web Admin, I noticed that your On-Page SEO is not that great, for one you do not use all three H tags in your post, also I notice that you are not using bold or italics properly in your SEO optimization. On-Page SEO means more now than ever since the new Google update: Panda. No longer are backlinks and simply pinging or sending out a RSS feed the key to getting Google PageRank or Alexa Rankings, You now NEED On-Page SEO. So what is good On-Page SEO?First your keyword must appear in the title.Then it must appear in the URL.You have to optimize your keyword and make sure that it has a nice keyword density of 3-5% in your article with relevant LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing). Then you should spread all H1,H2,H3 tags in your article.Your Keyword should appear in your first paragraph and in the last sentence of the page. You should have relevant usage of Bold and italics of your keyword.There should be one internal link to a page on your blog and you should have one image with an alt tag that has your keyword….wait there’s even more Now what if i told you there was a simple WordPress plugin that does all the On-Page SEO, and automatically for you? That’s right AUTOMATICALLY, just watch this 4minute video for more information at. WordPress Seo Plugin
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Although I am new to WordPress…I have been writing for awhile…I think I encompass all 3 styles at times…I write what I feel…and I don’t care about tenses…I weave in and out of present, past and future…I think that each blog represents something different to everyone who reads it…they will get what they get from it or need…I enjoy writing so i tend to not be so “professional” about it…it is not my job…it’s a joy…
Oh and please don’t let me blog after 2 glasses of wine..OH MY LAWD! I wake up the next morning and say DELETE! lol
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You’re a rock star Ms.Crazy Colon! I hope you recover soon.
If I may, I would suggest that you start writing on other topics as well, your writing style is awesome!
God bless
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Wow – those are two great blog recommendations! I especially liked the satirical (?) “Angst” post from Coconut Chutney =)
I had a period when I blogged, tended to blog long rambly posts, and then stopped blogging altogether for two years because I was afraid that what I would write wouldn’t be ‘good enough,’ would be too long or too short, superficial or self-indulgent, etc.
So this summer I started blogging and just let myself loose. I think I’ve improved as a writer since two years ago – not anything to write home about, but enough that I feel proud of my posts. Especially since I just get them out and then save them or publish and then make small edits right after. It would be interesting to experiment with different styles – more polish, maybe more art to demonstrate what I’m saying, more conciseness – but for now I feel like a fourth category of ‘Random’ that tries to be a ‘Narrator’ but has too much fun with tangents and whatnot to.
As for whether how I write matters if the message comes across – I suppose I’d like people to finish and enjoy my posts, and maybe be interested in reading more – which you only get with a good writing style – or should I say ‘good enough while still being fun.’ After that point the message is more important. My weakness perhaps more than writing style is covering a breadth of topics – I often return to productivity but would like to branch out more and tell more ‘stories’ that are life or fiction.
This is already a looong comment but just wanted to conclude that I think getting posts out and then asking friends what they think is much better than spending days to weeks on one post trying to plan it out or make it the ‘perfect style’ – because it might never get done, and it won’t be as FUN!
Thanks for the post! =D
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Thanks for commenting Arilaan!
Glad that you started writing again, you sound like somebody, whose posts I would love to read. I know that might not mean much to you 🙂
Spot on. After i published this post and started thinking to myself about what I had said, I realized that maybe being polished may not be that important but if you’re a lazy writer, it’ll show in your posts and may inevitably put-off most readers. Asking friends to critique your posts is a brilliant idea. Wonder why I never thought of that!
I tried finding your blog; couldn’t find it. Do share the link and thanks once again for sharing your thoughts 🙂
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Thank you so much for your reply! =D It really DOES mean a lot to me!!!!!! Feel free to check out my blog – http://arilaen.wordpress.com (yes the difference is arilaEn rather than arilaAn… because in my fictional language e’s change to a’s depending on… er… actually I haven’t made one yet, so there’s not really a reason? To facilitate confusion, perhaps?)
I’d LOVE to know what you think! I’ll stay posted for updates from this blog too! =)
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