When the Wise Speak to Business Bloggers

The "101 Tips from the World’s Most Famous Authors" aren’t specifically directed towards business bloggers, but many of them might be.  Ernest Hemingway, for example, advised using short first paragraphs (‘nuf said).

Mark Twain had the idea writers ought to substitute "damn" for "very".  Since editors would likely delete the "damns", the writing would be left as it should be.  What this means for bloggers – let the information about what you sell, do, and know about make its own impression without help- from "very"s.

While there are differences of opinion on the use of exclamation marks, F. Scott Fitzgerald thought they’re "like laughing at your own jokes."

"Show, don’t tell," is the creative writing advice of Anton Chekhov.  "Don’t tell me the moon is shining.  Show me the glint of light on broken glass," he explained.  In the case of business blogs, along with text, the "show me" can consist of photos, graphs, clip art, and videos to boost reader engagement and response.

When Stephen King teaches aspiring writers to "read a lot and write a lot", he might well have been addressing bloggers for business.  My version (as a blogging trainer): Reading + writing = blogging. King explains reader helps writers find their own style.  In blogging, reading other blogs can help you scope out your own blogging niche.

Anais Nin observes: "The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we’re unable to say." A professional ghost blogger needs a "third ear" to hear not only what the business owner says, but to pick up on the intangibles of the business’ culture that owner has created – and then translate that into blogs!