In case you haven’t noticed, there are a LOT of World of Warcraft blogs out there. Literally everything is covered, from class-specific blogs, to blogs about leading a guild, to blogs devoted to PvP. It’s all there. In the short time I have been blogging, I’ve seen blogs come and go. I’ve seen people start out a house of fire, only to fizzle after a few weeks or months. I’ve seen other people who start out tentative and stay that way. They often feel unsure what to write about, or a lot of times they just plain run out of ideas.

This post is for you.

To be a successful blogger, no matter what you choose to focus on, you must find your Blogging Voice. No, that doesn’t mean you have to write in character like a silly orc I know, but rather it means you need some kind of direction, some kind of vision for your blog.

I suppose a good place to start is to talk about how I found MY blogging voice.

How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Post ANYTHING

When I first started my blog, it wasn’t much more than a name. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about, but I wanted to find a reasonably catchy name that said something about me. My main is a druid, and I am what you would term a casual player, so Part Time Druid was born.

Honestly, I had no idea what I wanted to write about. I just knew I wanted to give blogging a try. My first post was the obligatory intro post, really nothing fancy. From there, I tried out a couple of Blog Azeroth shared topics (more on that later) and a couple of casual centric ideas I had, like a view of classes from a Casual perspective, and a look at Casual Raiding. Interspersed throughout were journalistic type posts that were about what I was doing in game.

I had some kind of direction going, but it was scattered and I didn’t have a lot of readers. This was good in a way, because it allowed me the space to play around with some ideas. Two posts really put me on the map. The first was my attempt at a gear post, Casual Druid Shopping List: 2.4 Badge Gear. I quickly found out that gear posts always get a lot of play.

The next big post, though, was much more important. I wrote a post that I got from Blog Azeroth called Resto Druid: 5 Things You Should Know. This was the first time that I received any real feedback about any of my posts. Phae at Resto4Life (one of the key blogs that got me blogging) wrote a reaction to that post on her site.

Now, the important thing about this is not so much the “pub” I got from Phaelia’s post (though it did help my blog grow tremendously), but rather this was the first time I had any idea of what I wanted to talk about. That post of mine was largely a throwaway post, put together in an hour or so one afternoon. I didn’t research all that much, I didn’t rack my brain or re-edit till my eyes bled, I just kind of wrote it and put it up. There were quite a few posts earlier that I had put a LOT more work into that nobody ever read. Yet this off the cuff, throwaway of a post suddenly had hits through the roof, along with oodles of comments.

What’s the point? You never know what people are going to WANT to read, so quit worrying about it. What you consider your grandest, most thought-provoking, most “cutting edge” post may not elicit more than a handful of reads. The post you whip together in 15 minutes about nothing at all may get a dozen comments.

You never know. Don’t bother trying to know.

After I got all those hits, Phae’s reaction, and the increase in subs, I realized something. I had been being awfully “safe” with my posts. I had bigger ideas, but I often dismissed them because I doubted my “WoW cred” and whether I had any right to post them. Sure, I had some good posts before then, but this throwaway was the first post I had written with any heart, and I realized that.

From then on, I made myself one promise. I would write what I wanted to write, and to hell with what anyone else thought. I realized that my opinions, be they right or wrong, were just as good as anyone else’s.

And so, I had found my Blogging Voice. Now I would write about those BIGGER ideas I had always wanted to write about. Guild Drama. WoW Apathy. Macros. Music. My alts. Anything was game. Even gear posts.

Yes, It Has All Been Done Before – But Don’t Let That Stop You

People say it’s all been done before, and it has. But it hasn’t been done by YOU. There were many great gear posts out there for Resto Druids (4haelz and A Tale of Two Druids are two), but never any that were how I envisioned them. I wanted a “cheat sheet” that got down to brass tacks, and told you the flat out easiest and quickest upgrades for each slot. I soon found out that I wasn’t the only one looking for such a list, as to this day that is by far my most visited post. It’s the perfect example of something that had been done before, but not in every WAY it could have been done.

Make Use of the Blogging Community

I have found that bloggers are very helpful sorts for the most part. Many of us are more than willing to look at your blog and give advice and suggestions, and there are some truly great resources out there.

Blog Azeroth is a wonderful message board where you can find out about nearly anything blog related. Whether you’re just getting started or a grizzled blogging veteran, you’ll find troves of useful tips and info. I used to visit the site every day, until the Draconian IT Overlords blocked it for me at work. Oh bother.

If you have any questions, or just want to chat about blogging, though, BA is the place to go.

That’s only the beginning, though. Have a favorite blogger? Ask them for advice. Have a strong reaction to another blogger’s post? Don’t use it up in their comments, write your own post and link back to it. Heck, there is even Twisted Nether, a Podcast or Blogcast focused specifically on the world of blogging. They even started a Wiki!

I’m really only scratching the surface here, too. The point is, don’t be an island. There are plenty of people and resources that can help you kickstart your blog.

Conclusion

As usual, it seems my post turned into a bit of a ramble. That’s just how it works for me, though, so I don’t mind. The point, though, is that you can find your Blogging Voice, if you’re willing to look for it.

1. Write what you want.
   
2. Don’t be discouraged if it’s “been done before,” do it anyway.
   
3. Use the resources at your disposal.

If you do those things, I’m sure you’ll soon have the blog you always wanted. I always thought that people who start blogs WANT to say something. What I mean is that they want to have some kind of impact, some kind of audience. Some bloggers will tell you that “they just blog for themselves,” but I never buy that. If they did, wouldn’t they just keep a private blog somewhere, and not a URL anyone could get to? But I digress. Everyone who writes a blog has something to say, they’re just not always sure what exactly that is. Hopefully this post will help you figure that out.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.