1. Tips for the beginning enthusiast Columns and Blogs
2. Never be boring In all cases there is one cardinal sin; being boring. The columnist must have something to say and appealing style that captures the reader and demands a reaction… Everyone has one column, maybe six, in them. But column writing week in and week out, let alone at more regular intervals, is demanding professional work. [Al Morison, Intro , p. 309]
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5. The obligatory Orwell slide I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. But I could not do the work of writing a book, or even a long magazine article, if it were not also an aesthetic experience. …. So long as I remain alive and well I shall continue to feel strongly about prose style, to love the surface of the earth, and to take a pleasure in solid objects and scraps of useless information. George Orwell , Why I Write , 1946
6. Write about what you know A column or blog has to be believable A good opinion piece is based on relevant facts Do your homework Have a point of view
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11. The outcome was so remarkable, you almost dare to imagine a day when Blair and Bush are in a cell with Karadzic, arguing about whose turn it is to slop out. But mostly, I wonder if, when the computers hit the ground, they flickered, “You have performed an illegal operation”. Mark Steel, W/H 26-07-08, p.21
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30. Tip No. 1 cannot be emphasized enough among journalists and journalism students. Writing a blog will make you better at everything related to being a good journalist. Word. You will become a better writer, researcher, investigator, skeptic, listener, communicator — and editor. You will also become better at everything concerning the Web, if you really apply yourself to blogging. I speak from personal experience on this. Teaching online journalism [Mindy McAdams]
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32. Tip No. 2 has a direct relationship to No. 3, and I think we could learn something from Stolz’s own post. His post title: “Five Lessons from a Year of Blogging.” My title for this post: “5 tips for blog beginners.” Now, think about a person typing search terms into Google. Lessons and blogging ? Or tips and blog ? Your choice of keywords in the post title is of paramount importance to the findability of the post itself. Every word counts. The title also needs to be short — five or six words is an ideal length. Mindy McAdams
![Never be boring In all cases there is one cardinal sin; being boring. The columnist must have something to say and appealing style that captures the reader and demands a reaction… Everyone has one column, maybe six, in them. But column writing week in and week out, let alone at more regular intervals, is demanding professional work. [Al Morison, Intro , p. 309]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)