Chris Pirillo argues that bloggers should say something original at least once a day in this terrific advice post. "Create, don’t regurgitate," he urges. "Make yourself uncomfortable."
Developer Jeff Atwood makes some similar points on Coding Horror: “Switch things up. Seek out uncommon sites with unique information. Dig down to original sources and read the material everyone is commenting endlessly on.”
The key word there – the takeaway message – should be sources. You need 'em. Anchor your blog in the wider world of facts and reflections. Citing experts (or even Joe Public) lends scope and authority to your work: it's no longer the sound of one hand clapping, but part of a larger dialogue. And building a community is what the web's all about.
Musing about you're eyeglasses, for example? Dorothy Parker got there first. By alluding to her famous line, you're evoking information deep in the readers' memories, which helps them connect to your material and retain it better. WIN! Or dig even deeper and find a great spectacle quote that hasn't been hounded into the land of cliché. DOUBLE WIN! Or perhaps link to another blogger's exploration of the topic. BONUS OVERTIME GOODNESS!
Articles, blogs, books and quotation compilations are great tools. But you can take it further: talk to people.
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