BlogHer - Ten types of Web writing: Get the words out - Comments

Readability Score of Your Blog and Other Resources

Lynne d Johnson — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 18:41:27 -0500

During the presentation I mentioned an online tool for determining the readability score of your blog. Here are two:

http://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php
http://www.readability.info/

Also other resources I've found useful latley regarding writing for the web:

Copyblogger and this article, Why Blog Post Frequency Does Not Matter Anymore.

Countdown to BlogHer Conference

ellenleanse — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:51:20 -0500

Lisa, I am really looking forward to BlogHer...yes, for the content, yes, for the contest...but mostly for the people! Can't wait.

Enjoy your week, good luck with all...
Ellen Leanse
www.ourstory.com

Stuff I like

Pam — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 09:52:55 -0500

...stuff I like changes from day to day. But here goes...

Slate and Grist have primo headlines, almost always, though I don't think they're technically blogs.

Essays? Jeez. Bloggers? Hmmm.... Neil - Citizen of the Month - consistently writes stuff that makes me laugh. Grace has a remarkably clear voice - she writes like she's talking to you, and that's a fine thing, though I'm not sure I'd say she's an essay writer, her stuff is more snapshot/slice of life. Tuckova's spare style blows my mind, as does Metamorphism though sometimes Metamorphism loses me in the ether. Still, when he writes about his family or learning to play music, wow. It's funny, with Tuckova and Metamorphism, I don't wish I could write like them, but I envy their style. And of course, Petite Anglaise. That woman can write.

I don't really care for memes. I'm okay with those getting to know you things in email, but I don't like them on blogs. I can see that filling out a 100 things list would be a fun exercise, but reading them bores me, sorry. Link lists - unless they're categorized effectively, I don't find them any more useful than Technorati or Google's blog search. Sometimes I'll click through the link lists on a blog I like, and then, I'm disappointed by the results. People link for a variety of reasons - reciprocation, friendship, etc... and one of those reasons is not always quality of content. (If I see a list that really strikes me as useful in the next few days. I'll post it in these comments) Wandering Woman puts links in her posts and I almost always click through - but that's because she's told me WHY to click.

For the photo/words combination, Marilyn often posts photo collages and uses them as launching points for writing. I like this approach a lot because you can see all the images while you read. I loved Vitrolica's drawing and words blog and thank god, she's doing more the same drawing and writing style entries on Blogzira.

What do I struggle with as a writer? Knowing when to shut up, mostly. Luckily, my struggles aren't so much with writing, which, I am delighted to report comes easier to me the more I do it. My struggles are with making it pay enough to live on.

On format -- I'm dyin' here over the idea that people are reading on cell phones on the bus. I think video content and podcasting is swell for little portables devices, but I hate reading stuff on those tiny screens. Scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll.... I believe content needs to be appropriate for the delivery medium (there's my UA/UI/UX self talking). The ten word story, fine for the 2" screen. The 800 word essay, no way. Hmmm. Food for thought. Slide show stories? Maybe. Bring back the filmstrip for the mobile device. :)

Layout is queen, indeed...

Lisa Stone — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 19:54:26 -0500

Pam, I *wish* you could be here.

We will definitely address these questions.

The fundamental difference between deadwood and online is the experience the poor user-reader-viewer has when she hits the page. Writers have a lot more control in print -- assuming they trust their editors and publishers -- because they know how the page'll look, even though someone else is going to write the headline.

But the Web is a challenge. We can write elegent double-headlines to a lengthy essays or news stories all we want...but we have to realize that a perhaps significant portion of readers are going to read it through their crackberry, phone, tiny laptop or RSS except. Now that is a lesson indeed.

Do you have any links you can recommend for best headlines, essays, reviews? I'd love to hear what you think.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

I'm a writer...

Pam — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 18:46:25 -0500

I'm a writer first, and blogging happens to be the format I write for most. I'm sorry I'm not going to be at this session. If I was there, I'd be asking about what's different, if anything, about writing for blogs, and given that, what's the most effective way to write a blog post. Or, rather, what makes an effective blog post as opposed to something that works well as a magazine article, newspaper column, etc...

Nerd's Eye View

Ten types of Web writing: Get the words out

Lisa Stone — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 16:38:02 -0500

When: 1:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m., July 28, 2006
Where: Blogher Conference 2006 Day One

Words matter more today than ever before, thanks to the Web.

Today our words are scooped up by search engines, spat onto ever-tinier and ever-dirtier laptop screens and cell phones, shot across PDAs, and spoken into podcasts and videoblogs, even translated into different languages. If you're a blogger, that's just the beginning: From there, your words initiate online conversations with friends, family, colleagues, past and future, and (like it or not) an enduring legacy for your experiences and values.

Typed, spoken, illustrated or animated...it's all about words and word choice. Good writing is essential to your identity online. So--how do we do that?

In this BlogHer Conference '06 session on Friday, July 28, we'll examine as a group how the words we write can work harder for us. You're invited to join us in two one-hour sessions as we pick apart writing techniques for bloggers, what they can help us accomplish (or not) and why.

So-called "good" writing often depends upon your personal goals. Do you want to reach more people online? Express yourself more artfully? Both? Great. We'll open with a survey of the top ten techniques that we recommend to help get your word out, followed by a workshop where we'll conduct a real-time blog writing and publishing exercise.

To help make this session as relevant as possible to the kinds of writing that you like to do, please share with us in the comments below. Link the best (or worst) online writing you've ever seen:

Best headline(s)? Worst? Links please!
Best list of links or meme (like this or this)?
Best essay(s)?
Best review(s)
Best use of art with words (illustration, photo, video, any of the above)
â€¦and our most important question: What do you struggle with as a writer?

Best,
Lisa and Lynne