**Re-uploading: I fixed all those formatting errors, and cleaned it up so that it's a bit easier to read. I modified most of the sections, since each one was separated into different dialogues. Hope it's better than before. As always, if you have recommendations, leave them below.**
First Post - August 1, 2011
Update 1 - July 31, 2012
Update 2 - August 5, 2013
The Short List - Table of Contents
The starting line: Blogging starts before you write the first character. You're ruminating about ideas, figuring out phrases, and coming up with an argument before you sit down. Here's what you should look for before you begin writing.
- Give a damn
- How to start
- Blogging and your opinion
- When to write
- Originality
- Why you blog
- Establish Your Strengths
- Blogging On the Go
As you're writing: These are tips that you should keep in mind as you're writing your blog.
- Gaming related...or not
- Save your work
- You could always be wrong
- The Advanced Editor
- Take breaks
- Ask for advice from fellow members
- Utilize pictures and humor
- Have fun!
It's published...now what?: You've written your blog, you're possibly a tad tired. You might start worrying about the quality of your blog, how people will respond, and why you have so much bellybutton lint. Here are my tips:
- Negativity
- Blog Herding
- Your unique experience
- Reincarnation
- Glitches
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The Starting Line
Give a Damn
Give a damn about what you're going to write. Fellow members here are not dumb: they can easily tell when you didn't try or didn't care about your blog, and some will be sure to rail you for it. If you care about what you're writing, you'll have the motivation to do some research about it and support your arguments or write your story. Most of the time, if look you at the clock and realize you've sunk in 2+ hours that flew by, you care about what you just wrote.
It doesn't matter if you're arguing against another member's blog, writing something humorous, or playing devil's advocate: if you don't care about what you're writing, your blog will suffer as a result. I've posted a few blogs that I did half-heartedly; these got very few reactions from other people, and the reactions I did get were along the lines of "meh, this blog's alright."
How to Start
Blogging here is really easy. You first have to reach Lvl 5 (unsubscribed member), and if you're a subscribed member to the GI Magazine, you can blog right away. Info about leveling can be found here. Go to your profile (on any page, your user name is at the very top.) Look to the right, where your user name is. Below that are blue icons, one of which reads "Post to your Blog." Click that, and you're off!
Starting blogs can be tough for me. Sometimes I know what I want to write about, but not how to write it. Whenever I get hung up on the introduction or format of my blogs, I utilize the advanced editor and write an outline. Outlines for blogs are similar to essays: they help you figure out what stuff you do and don't want to write about, and help you lay out where you want to address your main points.
They are also indispensable for figuring out where you want to put sources as well. Blogs that aren't outlined can still be really good; just be sure to read over these more than once before posting, because you'll have to do some paragraph/sentence rearrangement to make your argument flow. Blogs that are outlined take longer to write, as the outline takes as much time to figure out as writing the blog itself. However, taking the extra time to outline your blog before you write it increases the blog's quality dramatically.
As you write the blog, you don't have to worry about drawing connections between points, since you've already done that in your outline. You channel that extra effort into your prose or by looking for other points to add.
Blogging and Your Opinion
Newer members on this site may think that all they need to do to write a good blog is share their opinion, and leave it at that. While an opinion by itself is technically a blog, what separates the ok from the good and great is how much the writers back up their points. "I think Call of Duty sucks." Ok, cool I guess. Why? When did you start hating Call of Duty? Once you begin answering those questions, backing your answers up with relatively strong points, you're on your way to a quality blog.
If you answer the question after sharing your own views and takes, you're good. A question, or opinionated statement alone, leads to an awkward and short blog that may end up getting glossed over by other members. If you're having trouble declaring your own statements, feel free to start out with "I think," then just launch into a ramble and edit your blog from there. You don't have to start out with a perfect-looking blog, as long as you'll make adjustments later on.
When to Blog
What time you post your blog is something to keep in mind. People are constantly blogging, and if you want the maximum amount of views, try to find out when most users are online and post only then. If you post too early or too late in the day, not as many people may see your post before it inevitably slides down the blogging section. You can set what time you want your post to come online. In the default editor, it's under "Publish Date," while in the Advanced Editor, you can find that option under the "Publication Settings." These options are handy, as you can finish a blog, and not have to sit around until a convenient time to push "publish."
There will be a viewing difference if you post at midnight, when the community is mostly inactive, versus posting mid-day, when everyone's at work on lunch break. Still, blogging at a specific time doesn't change all that much. Most blogs stay on the first page of feed for at least half of a regular day, so it'll be viewed by members even if it's posted earlier in the day, when everyone's going to work.
Originality
Whatever you're blogging about, someone's probably already blogged about it. Don't let this stop you though; just be sure you blog about it in a way that hasn't been done to death. Accomplishing this could be as simple as just including your own take on the subject or writing about it in your particular style. Take this blog for example: you can find many Blogging Recommendation threads from bloggers with much more experience than I. If you're a new blogger, don't be deterred from writing your own reviews or takes on the gaming industry. Just know it may be tougher to write a good blog on these topics since they're written about on a daily basis.
Don't be ashamed if you jump on a bandwagon and write a blog about "My Top 10 Favorite Gaming Cleavages" right after someone else posted a blog about it. What? Why are you looking at me that way? No one's written a blog about Top 10 Gaming Cleavages? That's interesting. Something to think about for my next blog...
Anywho, don't be afraid to follow a trend. Writing about Mass Effect 3 when the ending was getting beaten to death by journalists and the internet was still a lot of fun. Bloggers will also go through challenges in groups, like the 31/31 challenge.
Why You Blog
Don't try to make your name by writing blogs. It isn't a good way to look at blogging. Good blogs, not writing blogs, will establish your name in the community. So don't worry about the pace at which you blog, how many views your first few blogs get, and don't spam-message random people telling you to look at your blog. Asking for advice is one thing; spamming is another.
Worry about writing good blogs. Don't try to gain renown or fame for yourself by writing once a day; just try to write well and 'be good' at blogging. Take credit for the good blogs you write, and take the heat for writing bad ones. When you post, tell yourself that you don't care about about what other people will think about it.
There's such talent in the blogging section that if you blog just to 1up other members, your writing will suffer. Blogging is whatever you make out of it, and if it's a competition to you, best of luck; you're shooting yourself in the foot. Blogging as a passion or past-time is a much more productive way to blog: you don't worry nearly as much about what another person has said in their blog, and how yours will stack up to theirs. Write what comes naturally to you.
Establish What You're Good At
Writing will be easier for you when you stick to what works for you. Do people like your Top Ten lists? Focus on writing those. Are you known for your opinion pieces? Focus on writing those. Once you feel like you've got the hang of writing a specific type of blog, then feel free to branch out.
Getting acquainted with a specific type of blog will help you gain experience, and confidence, as you write. If you want to try out different types of blogs first before settling on working with one type, that's also a good strategy.
Blogging On the Go
Smart phones being what they are nowadays, you could use your phone's web-browser app of choice to edit blogs. The screen is tiny, the formatting might come out weird, and people may look at you strangely when it seems you've been writing an incredibly long text message to someone. Blogging on the go is really only useful when you're bored or wanting to kill time, your computer is unavailable, and you're anxious to correct/finish a blog. Maybe you dissed one of the staff members and are afraid you'll get the banhammer dropped on your noggin.
Simply put, blogging on GIO wasn't tailored to a tiny phone, and your browser may make things even more difficult for you to manage. But, given time, determination, and possibly a disclaimer at the top (Sorry me gremmar"s not good. i"m using my phone :{ , for example), you can easily blog using a smartphone.
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As You're Writing
Gaming-Related or Not?
Over time, I'd say I've become more lax about the whole "zomg you mentioned something not about gaming in your blog." You can write about whatever the hell you want, as long as it's an interesting, quality blog, and you aren't spamming the forums with your entries. I've seen plenty of sports, politics, and religion blogs. I've even seen a member rate his recent bowel movement. I think that one got something like 300 views just for the subject matter.
Save Your Work
SAVE YOUR WORK AS YOU'RE WRITING!! I cannot stress this enough. I love GI.com, but I have worked hours on a blog, I think it's perfect and that it's the next big article that'll reinvent the universe, only to post it and have GI.com tell me it's lost track of the whole thing, and that I have to start from scratch. So save your work! Usually I copy all my current writing and then paste it in Word as I add to it. You may have, or develop, a more convenient process.
What I realized a while ago was that there are a few kinks in GI.com's programming that do some funky things with your blogs. Most of what would make me lose my blog's progress was if I started to put pictures into the blog by simply copy-and-pasting them in. This'll prompt the site to disregard your blog when you try to publish it, and all your writing will be gone into the ether. Use the 'Insert Image' and 'Insert Video' widgets instead of copy-and-pasting the image into the blog.
You Could Be Wrong
Be prepared to be wrong. If you're writing a blog about a controversial topic or arguing for a specific point of view, simply saying "I'm entitled to my opinion" isn't good enough when people tell you need to back it up with facts. So back the heck out of it by finding at least one source for each point of view you have. If you back your points of view up with facts, you have an opinion. If you don't, you have a guess.
That being said, even if you back your stuff up with credible sources, there's always the possibility you're wrong. Accept that as fact if called out on it, as people admire honesty, even though it may hurt your ego while doing it. Don't just roll over at the first sign of adversity, but if they gain the upper hand, throw in the towel ask for their sources. You'll be the better blogger when you admit you're wrong; the person you argued with could become a valuable supporting ally if in a future blog you're trying to stand against arguments and need help.
Also, if you're not prepared to be wrong you'll never come up with something original (a nod here to a lecture by Sir Ken Robinson), and by not admitting you're wrong, you're hurting your chances of growing as a blogger. Honest mistakes are a good thing.
The Advanced Editor
To find the editor, go to one of your blogs or "Post to Your Blog," and at the bottom, there's "Advanced Editor." Beginners, and even some more experienced bloggers, don't know that it exists and how great it is. The Advanced Editor lets you do some neat things. Play around with it, save drafts, manage blogs even down to setting them to when you want them published, along with all the things the simpler blog editor lets you do. You can reach it from the simple editor page.
The advanced editor lets you see where you got views from in each blog, can let you manage and save drafts, and allows you to see blogs that have yet to be published (ones you've set the publish date to a future time. Radical.)
Using the advanced editor can decrease overall performance of your computer while it runs. I've got a relatively powerful laptop, so it's worked fine for me. Also, if you post using the advanced editor, your GI.com profile will not recognize that post as a blog and thus won't 'count'. You'll still get points for blogging, and your blogs will still appear on your profile like usual. It's just that GI.com will say you didn't write any blogs, if you use the advanced editor to write your first few.
There are so many additional ways I can tailor when and what I want to be seen on each individual blog. Say you think of a blog idea in the middle of the day. Keep it in your head and write a few notes in a blog titled how you want it, save it as draft, and access it later when you get some more ideas. You can't do that with the regular editor.
Take Breaks
Try not to blog all in one sitting. Most of the time I write each of my blogs (blogs like this one) in one sitting, and that's something I have to work on. Pressing the 'publish' button right after you finish writing is satisfying and tempting. It's not necessarily an evil habit, but it's not the best either. It's always a good idea to come back to your blog a day or so later and look it over again before posting it. You may find you need to make some major formatting or grammar changes.
Reading your blog aloud to yourself will also help you fix typos and sentence structure issues, which both count towards making your blog look and sound good, important parts to a good blog.
Asking/Giving Advice
Look around the internet for good writing tips. They're everywhere and many provide great ways to improve your blogging skills. Typically, blogs take on an essay structure when talking about non-fictional topics, like the gaming industry. When writing stories, look around for story-writing tips; the same would go for debates and interviews. Or simply just ask a fellow blogger what they typically do to make their blog look and read well.
If you're asked by a fellow member to help with their blog, be nice, but truthful. The more realistic advice and feedback you give them, the better. It may bruise their ego, but they'll produce a better blog.
Use Humor
Utilize pictures and humor. Both of these make your blog more pleasing to read. Pictures break up what would be a Great Wall of Text, and injecting the occasional humor breaks the monotony of a long, serious blog. My personal habit when it comes to inserting pictures is to insert them every three or four paragraphs, depending on their size. This ensures that people can mentally take a break from your writing at multiple times during your blog.
A blog without pictures and humor can become intimidating to the reader, as we're not known for our extensive patience. We are, however, understanding. Now to the subject of using humor in blogs. Just know what each blog's balance between serious writing and humorous writing is. A comedic blog has no limit for humor, and a low one for serious matters; vise-versa for more serious blogs. There's a time and place for humor within every blog; you just need to know when and where.
Have Fun!
Have fun blogging! The more you try, the more you'll be rewarded for trying. It's that simple. The more you comment and help other people blog, the friendlier they'll be when you post your own. Enjoy blogging, because if you don't, there's no point in spending multiple hours writing when you simply don't enjoy it.
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It's Published...Now What?
Be Ready For Negativity
Negativity is always a possibility. This is the Internet after all. I remember posting my first few blogs absolutely fearful of what kinds of responses I'd get from the community. Each blog is your opinion, thus it's a little part of you opening up to the internet, which can be a scary place in and of itself. The truth is, even if you gave a d@mn about what you just wrote, you may get anywhere between 1-3 negative comments for every ten.
So it's an important lesson to learn: use negativity to your advantage. If people say your jokes need work, your spelling is terrible, and your blog is too hard to read, consider if they're actually right. As a blogger, never sit back and say you have nothing to learn from your fellow bloggers, and that you can't improve yourself. Therefore, if you get negative replies to your post, don't quit; you can always get better if you put your mind to it. I've had a blog that ended up being rated as barely three stars and nearly all of the responses to my thread were disagreements. The blog ended up getting featured in a Blog Herd. I'm still scratching my head about that one.
No matter what you write about or what you think about your blog, there's always a solid possibility that people will not agree with you. Names might be thrown, feelings might be hurt, but you've just got to deal with it. You can always try to defend your argument; nothing wrong with that.
Blog Herding
There's a community-run feature called Blog Herding, where Saint (previously a GI Staff Member) picks blogs of the week, and put them in the spotlight for the community to read. Blog Herds are a great morale booster, and are a great way of getting a little bit of publicity. Getting your blog on Blog Herding is great, but it doesn't make you God.
Don't get too caught up if your next blog doesn't get featured; it happens to everyone: they think a blog they wrote is awesome, but it gets passed. Just be sure you know you put your best foot forward.
As I said before, don't blog to get your name out there. Similarly, don't blog just to get it Herded, just to get a ton of views, and/or just to start arguments. Write because you want to share your personal interests or opinions on something; not to make waves.
If you're curious about Blog Herding, go over to Saint's Blog Herding 101
Your Unique Experience
Your experience will be different. All of the advice I give may help you generally, but each blogger writes about different things, has different priorities and habits, and thus will have a different set of experiences. After blogging a few times you may feel you just don't have a handle on it, or blogging's the greatest thing since sliced bread (?). Your experiences will be different from mine, both for worse and for better. You'll have good blogs and blogs that you wish you never ended up publishing. But you're never done improving upon your blogging skills.
If there's one thing I can hope you learn, it's that no blog is finished; it's just 'better'. That being said, it's always good to know when to stop. And if you have something you want to add to an old blog, add to it and resurrect it. You'll develop your own set of habits and tendencies.
Reincarnation
Don't fear bringing blogs back from the grave; with good reason of course. Bumping threads in forums is taboo behavior, and the same goes for our humble blogging section. Still, bringing a long-dead blog from the grave can be a fun, interesting experience. Rummage through them, and maybe you'll find a blog that's about why a game developer sucks, but you currently love that developer now. Well, why not bring it back and poke holes in your own arguments? You can also bring a blog back if you feel like it's been revamped/reconstructed.
Glitches
Here's a list of glitches and fixes I've found while blogging here:
- Copy-and-Pasting images directly from Google, for example, will confuse GI.com's blog editors. When you try to publish, you'll get a window saying something like "What were you trying to do?" To avoid this, use the "Insert Image" widget; it looks like a little photograph with a tree inside and a green "plus" sign at the bottom right.
- Odd formatting issues can arise if you use multiple browsers to make a blog, since each browser has its own recognized HTML languages. For example, I type one paragraph in Firefox, edit it in Google Chrome, and then publish it in Safari. Said blog might have bold text that can't be un-bolded, or double-spaced lines will appear when pressing "enter," yet much of the blog is single-spaced. To fix these formatting problems, click the "HTML" widget on the top row of widgets on the right. This will bring up the "HTML Source Editor," in which you can delete the code causing the problem. If you're unsure which code is causing the problem, just look it up online.
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GI.com really is friendly towards new faces in the blogging section. The most recent newcomer I've read a blog from made his entire blog on himself, about how he was new, and what games he was looking forward to. His writing got over 200 views in one day. Definitely not bad for the new guy around town. So to those of you who've been apprehensively reading blogs for some time, but haven't been sure about writing a blog, don't worry about it. You won't get your first blog "right," if there really is such a thing as "right." Just write naturally, write what you feel you need to write about.
Happy Blogging!
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Moar Resources
Many other members have released lists of their own. Here are a couple extra resources I'd recommend:
Jeff Marchiafava: Why You Should Blog At GameInformer
GameInformer: Site Help - Blogging
BlackHeartedWolf: Being A Better Blogger
Saint: Welcome To The GIO Blogging Community (Again)…