A while ago I wrote about my particular perspective on the tone a blogger takes while writing. Well today I can attest to the value of the suggestions within that post. I’ve been facing frustration with one component of my online financial dealings and it’s bothered me quite a bit. Now as I look back at the post I still firmly believe in what I wrote, but I suspect that it didn’t resound with readers that much.
I thought this to be a rather appropriate time to remind everyone once again about the value of staying positive when you write. There’s certainly some short term pleasure in venting frustration, but there’s a long term disconnect involved in that between you and your audience. In most cases they will simply not relate to your specific issue or worse yet, they will. Reminding your readers of a time when they felt very frustrated and/or angry may work in certain circumstances, but I’d hardly advise it for the general purpose blog.
The other side of the issue is that while writing passionately about something is important, if you write while you’re in the heat of the moment, you won’t necessarily be able to write a reasonably analytical piece. If you simply come at something from one side and ignore the opposing view, you will turn off readers. They can see right through that. Just look at the frustrations the public experiences with some politicians who use this approach. When you’ve got a calm level head you can write a far better piece that will touch on all of the issues, instilling within your readers a sense that you’ve really looked at the issue you’re discussing, have given it a fair shake and have come to the conclusions you have for good reasons.
As I’ve already pointed out, I don’t always do this. Anyone who looks through my archives will find articles that are extremely one-sided and frustrated. But if you read those, you’ll see that those aren’t very good posts and very few people even bother to read them. Speaking from experience, keeping your writing positive will have a much better long term impact on your blog than writing while frustrated.
blogging, writing
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3 responses so far ↓
1 mike // Jun 6, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Of course, all of that depends on your audience. For example, my site is never read as much as it is during the one month of the year where I continually spout well-informed frustration.
I think a better message than “speak positive” is “know your audience and what they expect.”
Of course, for me, speak positive is often the right approach. I try (and often fail) to be more positive when discussing TurnItIn.
2 Marc // Jun 6, 2007 at 8:22 pm
Point taken. Your blog is indeed the most fun to read during that time of the year. You’re probably right in that it’s more tailored to the audience rather than a good idea for everyone.
3 Ozonew4mWebmaster // Jul 18, 2007 at 11:25 am
Very interesting… I was just passing through so i thought i would say hi
hi
A webmasters reading is never done
I added you to favorites so no doubt i will be back so keep it up