Writing Effective Blog Posts

So, how do you go about writing effective blog posts?

Although each blog/blogger is different, the most common issue that I see in student blogs concerns development or elaboration within posts. It's certainly fine to provide some summary in your posts, but it's also a good idea to go beyond summary. Provide a brief summary, and then move on to offer personal insight, commentary or even examples which correspond with the information that you summarized. This type of elaboration adds "depth" to your posts and is likely to appeal to readers. Afterall, part of the rhetorical appeal of blogging is the individual perspective that blogs provide.

Another issue that occurs frequently is a lack of closure at the end of posts. Generally, a blog post should provide closure for the reader in some form. Common means of providing closure include summarizing your main point(s), asking the readers questions, or adding a forward-looking statement ("In future posts . . .").

Keep in mind that different sub-genres of blogs will require different conventions, but for the types of blogs (academically-oriented) that are written in composition courses, these guidelines are generally applicable.

For more information on effective blogging practices, check out this handout from Agnes Scott College Writing Center.