blogging howtos: notes for the critical creative
In my last post, I suggested that I’d share some basic blogging advice, gleaned from the numerous blogging howtos I’ve been reading. The following post discusses a few of the more interesting or provocative examples of this large and growing genre.
A few Caveats
Before getting into this, a few notes on methodology (to use a highfalutin term).
1. These notes do not reflect a systematic search; they are more the result of my semi-directed, nocturnal meanderings. Nor are they comprehensive.
2. My choices come out of a split interest in the practical (need for technological advice and/or a wordpress expertise) and cultural theoretical (“what’s the deal w/ blogging?”). While a few of the examples listed below provide useful stylistic advice, thinking about the importance of audience and form has not been a major concern for me. As writer, editor and composition teacher by training, I have a pretty fair understanding of writing style—albeit not specifically w/in the context of weblogging.
3. My research—if we can call it that at this initial stage—is somewhat specialized and involves thinking through social media in relation to new modes (and models) of public engagement. I’m particularly curious about the transition into web publishing in the context of the public dissemination of scholarly discourse, and how this is transforming intellectual debate.
4. Generally an optimist and elearning convert, I am skeptical of the heavy self-promotional aspect of many of the blogging howtos. Blogging as business seems to fit too comfortably into the extended neo-liberal moment. Granted the web’s zeitgeist if not raison d’etre (to mix lingos) is entrepreneurial, and yes, artists and academics do have a lot to learn from business folk. However, we need to be careful in the way we take up this language and the practices involved—particularly in this climate of government cut-backs and growing, if disingenuous, concern with accountability. Besides, as Emily Carr President Ron Burnett says, artists and designers also have a lot to teach to business around questions of innovation, promotion, and creative financing—in these new time the MFA might be the new MBA.
5. I’m a sucker for the lists and self-help advice reflected here.
a short list of resources
1. Let’s begin at the beginning.
How Not to Suck at Blogging: from Adam Baker’s Man vs. Debt
While this advice should make sense to almost anyone who has thought about writing and publishing, it is a good place to begin. Adam Baker’s thoughtful suggestions about finding a niche and building up an audience are useful and, for me, somewhat humbling. I also appreciate the candid entrepreneurial tone and spirit of his project, Baker’s honesty or what he calls “transparency”, together with the fact he opens his financial situation to the world (wide web), is amazing. Baker has also provided a wealth of resources on many of the big names in the blogosphere.
2. A Couple from Dan Schawbel’s Personal Branding Blog.
3 Step Personal Branding System
Again this is from the world of entrepreneurship and unapologetically commercial. That said, I’m intrigued with the parallels between Schawbel’s 3 step system—Gather, Organize, Distribute—and a more general academic approach to publishing—Research, Write, Publish. This post describes also describe of the tools and practices available. My hope that by learning to use these tools effectively intellectuals (academics and creatives) can develop a powerful means of influencing public discourse.
5 Things You Can Do to Have A Relevant Personal Brand
This drives home some of the facts discussed above and it clearly outlines a relationship between blogging, branding, and networking. I like the way it wraps everything up in terms of a social practice
3. A Couple from Alexandra Samuel
Alex is the new Director of the Social and Interactive Media Centre at Emily Carr (SIM), and a valued mentor and colleague. She’s social networking guru, blogger extraordinaire, and academic, who has written a dissertation on Hacktavism. I’ve been faithful reading her blog and thinking through her advice. These two posts are from her contribution to The Conversation as series of blogs at the Harvard Business Review
The Botox Effect: Five Ways to Cope with Online Silence
This is a nice article on readership and the importance of maintaining reasonable expectations as you start to put stuff out there. As the title suggests, Alex has a good sense of humour.
10 Tips for Getting Your CEO on Twitter
Again, this is explicitly corporate, but nevertheless, I think it is useful to think about our academic, artistic, public intellectual selves in organizational terms. If I’m not the CEO of me, then who is. Pa
4. Finally, Something Faith-based
Gentle Reader, Stay Awhile; I Will Be Faithful
This post by writer Amber Simmons clearly situates blogging in terms of readership. As she suggests, it is important to imagine individual readers and their relation one’s writing. Beyond her post obivious utility, I really enjoy the clarity and tone of Simmons writing. Check out her All’s Fair in Love & War, a fictional chronicle of Love and War in texas.
Going Forward
These posts are only the tip of an iceberg. To offer a bigger picture of my ongoing travels and travails in the blogosphere, I’ve created a post that tracks my delicious “blogging” tag (glowry/blogging).
For those who are interested: This was done by using Exec-PHP, a WordPress plugin that allows you to embed php code in an actual post or page, which in this case allows me to pull in an rss feed from my delicious account.
