Writing for narrative or thematic continuity

The web offers instant publishing with few parameters. No editor dictates story topic, length or deadlines. That, of course, is a blessing and a curse... Where to begin, when all the world's a potential subject and all cyberspace your canvas?

As we discussed earlier in the course, bloggers need to pick a theme. That could be homeschooling or mp3 reviews or Buenos Aires restaurants ... anything that curls your toes, really. But your site needs to have a raison d'etre, a backbone of continuity, to attract a broad audience of repeat readers.

Diary-style blogs certainly deserve a place at the table. But unless you're a celebrity or a very dynamic writer, these generally attract less traffic. As the book title No One Cares What You Had For Lunch illustrates, some musings do not grip readers' imaginations.(Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter better satisfy the minutia-reporting urge. In fact, they're often called "microblogging" platforms for that reason.).

But this isn't to say stop chronicling your life. "Write what you know" remains an authorial mantra for a reason. Just ponder how to isolate a theme from the bit-torrent of your existence. For example, Road Remedies centers around travel writing. I omit outings, social mishaps and wacky pet stories (well, most of 'em, anyway). The material's good, sure, but it remains on the cutting room floor nonetheless. My blog's a tool to give editors, readers and students a glimpse behind the scenes. It also allows me to trot out some of the anecdotes that don't make it into the mainstream media. In times of travel-drought, I will occasionally post photos or babble about my neighborhood. But I try to keep things on track. Readers come expecting insight about the trade or places I've been, not a recap of my pedicure.

Mike recently started a blog recalling his trip to Patagonia 10 years ago: an interesting technique. Mimi Smartypants may meander off topic, but she always returns to the "three-pint playdate" experience of raising her adopted Chinese daughter in Chicago. Food writer Jess Thomson spent 2007 creating, cooking and blogging a recipe a day for Hogwash. She beautifully interweaves episodes from her life into accounts of new dishes. Still, food's the common thread binding everything together.

Exceptions exist, of course. My friend Marie Javins seems to break the rules – and get away with it wonderfully. Her blog No Hurry ranges from South American chickenbus adventures to editing Muslim-superhero comics and DIY plumbing triumphs.

Home Depot and clogged U-bends? Not my thing. But Javin's a great enough blogger that I hang in there ... and soon I'm rewarded with more tales of Bolivian salt flats and Cairo during Ramadan.

When pressed, she did, in fact, point to an idea that underpinned her work. "They are thematically linked, of course," she wrote. "They're all about me expanding my horizons in a quest for life's meaning and love. The plumbing is about empowerment. The sewing serves the same function as plumbing. I theorize that women searching for similar stuff read, but also people who just like to read about scrapes and silliness read."

Her secret: Original, snappy material, frequently updated. An early adopter, Javins coded her way around the world in 2001, and has built a loyal following over time. Note the emphasis there. Unless you're Paris Hilton, people – aside from Aunt Erma and that barista with a crush – won't have an inherent interest in you. Readership will grow slowly and gradually, as search-engines funnel folks onto your site, and some are intrigued enough to return. Commenting on related blogs helps this cause, as does promotion. But we'll explore all this in more detail later. Now, let's focus on different modes, tones and paces to delight audiences.