The 30 most important blog writing rules

Hi everyone.  I figured that since everyone and his/her cousin have their own theory about what constitutes definitive “blog rules,” and how if you use their suggestions, your blog can be almost as good as theirs…

Yeah… been there.

So if you like, pull up a chair, people, and let me share with you the best and most effective tools in operating a successful weblog.  Pay attention.  This is important.

1. You have a story.  Tell it.  Blog about what you know.  This way, readers will appreciate your expertise on things.
2. Keep a few “pre-written” blog posts available in case you run into “blog clog,” and you can’t come up with a topic that morning.
3. Keep your blog posts to under 65,000 words.  Once you hit 65,001 words, people might get a smidge bored.
4. Don’t be afraid to say something a second time.
5. Don’t be afraid to say something a second time.
5. Don’t lose count of your bullet points.
6. ˙ʇsod ƃolq ɐ ǝʇıɹʍ noʎ uǝɥʍ dn ǝpıs-ʇɥƃıɹ doʇdɐl ɹnoʎ ǝʌɐɥ noʎ ǝɹns ǝʞɐɯ
7. If you see extemporaneous periods and semicolons on your blog in places where they don’t normally belong – it’s probably because you sneezed on the monitor. Eww.
8. Draft your blog post on a Notepad or Wordpad rather than on your blog portal. Save those drafts on your computer. Then, when you need a blog post for the day, you have a cache of them on your laptop or desktop.
9. Credit any photographs and text you use, if known. Nothing can put a harsh in your buzz like a take-down request.
10. If you’re going to write in inviso-text, at least let people know you’re going to do it, ‘kay?
11. No, I didn’t forget to put a topic in for the above bullet point. Highlight the text and find out.
12. You know what’s more dangerous than texting and driving? Holding up a video camera in a rain storm and then blogging about it. Don’t do it, dude. Not safe.
13. Have some fun with the blog. Come up with a challenging idea or concept, and see if you can execute it in the blog.
14. Only write your blog in Comic Sans font if you are trying to make a point. Writing an entire blog post in Comic Sans font says more about the blogger than the subject.
15. Don’t be afraid to put your screw-ups in a blog. We are all human. We have our good moments and our bad, our successes and our failures. Nobody’s perfect. Certainly not me.
16. Inspiration for blogs can come at any time and anywhere. Don’t ignore inspiration when it contacts you at 2:30 in the morning. Okay, at least wait until 3:00 in the morning. Sleep is important, too.
17. Always use your head. Never use your head. Do both at the same time, without getting caught doing either. That makes for the best blog posts.
18. If you like what someone is doing with their blog, feel free to contact them and ask questions and ideas. If you don’t like what someone is doing with their blog, find someone whose work you do like, and then contact them and ask questions and ideas.
19. If you’re going to write a boring blog, at least be entertaining about it.
20. Speak up. I SAID SPEAK UP!!!!
21. Lurn 2 tipe. Thiz 8nt tha “Hukd un Fonix” claz.
22. Don’t be dissuaded by naysayers, nasty-grammers, doubters or griefers.  Those that say they hate your blog and will never read it again, are invariably the first ones to put your blog in their Google Reader account.
23. If you receive 100 blog comments in the span of 5 minutes, chances are you’ve visited your spam queue rather than your “to be approved” comment queue.  The clue to telling them apart?  Most people don’t talk about selling fake Louis Vuitton handbags in a blog comment – unless your blog is all about selling fake Louis Vuitton handbags.
24. Don’t be afraid to post a blog on the weekend. People read blogs on the weekend just as often as they read them during the week.
25. Don’t mumble.
26. Use the blog-break “more” code at a strategic location in your blog.

Like right there.  Use it strategically, as if you’re setting up a cliffhanger.
27. If you’re going to write about the five most important things to remember, you may want to stop after five. Or at least after ten.
28. You can never say “meh” too many times in a blog. Meh. Meh. Meh meh meh. Okay, that comment was kinda meh.
29. It’s okay to celebrate your victories as long as you also acknowledge what it took to get to that point in time.

And probably the most important tip I can give you to write a successful blog –

30. Be yourself.

And that last one is really the only one you must remember, should you wish to start your own weblog. The rest of the suggestions, you can take ’em or leave ’em.