Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Shaping Short Narratives & Strong Thematic Posts

This week we're going to explore writing techniques for stronger entries. Because all the widgets and whizbangery in the world can't save a blog without strong content ... To do this, we'll look at a mix of "dead tree" tactics, as well as new media content ... and analyses of both.

  1. Storytelling in the age of content curation
  2. Making a strong first impression –  on readers and search bots
  3. Blog posts deserve snappy ledes (starts)
  4. Lively lede devices for bloggers (and other authors)
  5. Nut graf – framework to hang the story upon
  6. More nut graf goodness
  7. Speaking of suspense...
  8. Creative nonfiction – Plot your posts
  9. Plot arc: get complicated!
  10. Transitions: write the sweet segue
  11. Satisfying blog-entry conclusions
  12. S.W.A.K. – the envelope ending
  13. Blogs benefit from short, clear sentence structure
  14. Employ imagery and colorful language in posts
  15. Murder your darlings
  16. Avoiding word repetition
  17. Your mission, week seven

Some of this advice, I hope, will seem very old and obvious to you. That's because experts have spent decades – centuries even – analyzing what readers enjoy. Hopefully books and dedicated teachers and empirical evidence have brought many of these patterns to your attention already.

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