The Skill of Short, Sharp Blogging

Adam Tinworth
Adam Tinworth

Bloggin'

Antony Mayfield picked up Steph’s post – and my follow-up –  about bringing back the blog – and keeping it short. But he laments his struggles in keeping things concise:

Although, I am not off to a very good start. This post is already expanding to a medium-size post…

Short, sharp blogging (in my experience, at least) is built on two principles:

  1. Connect the thought “that’s interesting” with the action of writing the blog post as closely as you can. *Don’t leave tabs mouldering in your browser, don’t leave draft posts in your drafts folder. Get it done, and get out. *
  2. Be very clear what the point you want to make is, make it and quit. *Over a while, the various pots will built into a narrative of the issue you’re exploring – and you can bring that narrative to a peak, if not a climax, by writing that longer post. But save that until the point where the creative damn is going to burst, by letting some pressure out over time with those short posts. *
Short form blogging is a matter of time disciple and focus – but it’s rewarding, useful to the reader, and really refreshing in an age when too many “problogs” read like serialised instruction manuals…
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Adam is a lecturer, trainer and writer. He's been a blogger for over 20 years, and a journalist for more than 30. He lectures on audience strategy and engagement at City, University of London.

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