The Edublogger

50 responses so far ↓

• 1    bookjewel // Apr 27, 2008 at 4:14 am

  Great post! I am relatively new to blogging and have been wondering about some of the etiquette. I have only just started commenting on different blogs recently. I know how great if feels when people take the time to write something…otherwise the blogosphere can be quite a lonely place!

• 2    Larry Ferlazzo // Apr 27, 2008 at 4:16 am

  Sue,

  As usual, Sue, this is an excellent helpful post.

  I know we’ve communicated in the past about the importance of responding to comments left on your blog by others. I always send a direct email in response because I think a lot of people miss checking the box that lets them be notified of subsequent comments (and I know I should also leave the comment I send via email there, too). Is there any way for a blogger to have that checked automatically so people have to delete the check in order to receive notifications?

  I don’t think I have three more important tips, since you covered so many good ones already. I might have one more, though, that’s a little “counter-intuitive.” I always try to focus on writing posts that are helpful to me (either finding resources for projects I’m doing, helping me think through a problem or issue I’m grappling with, etc.), and not lead with trying to think of posts helpful to others. By doing that, I think that people find my posts more helpful. When I lead with trying to write what I think other people want, I think the posts tend to be less useful to them and to me.

  One post that made me want to comment on it was Dangerously Irrelevant when Scott had a contest for slogans for our public schools. In fact, it wasn’t even his post that made me want to comment, it was the comments themselves. The negativity of the submissions (though several were pretty funny) bothered me. So, I think a good post can also generate good comments that, in turn, generate more comments.

  Larry

• 3    Kirstin // Apr 27, 2008 at 4:50 am

  Hi Sue,
  I have picked up some more great tips from reading your post. I’ve been trying to work on using short paragraphs for a while now as I agree with you that long paragraphs can be off putting. I know I need to include visuals more often. I hadn’t thought of adding headings. I shall certainly try this with my next post if it seems appropriate.
  I wasn’t sure if I could think of 3 tips for better blog writing, but here goes;
  - Try to avoid run on sentences. (I’m guilty of this and I am trying to fix it, so this is for me as much as anyone else).
  - Think about font and background colour choices. Certain combinations are hard on the eyes and may put off your potential readers.
  -Give your posts a title that catches the readers attention. When going through my Google & Flock Readers, it is often a certain title that will catch my eye and encourage me to read further.

  This blog post “10 reasons for commenting on blogs” - Anne Mirtschin at http://murcha.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/the-value-of-comments-online/
  most recently made me want to comment. Part of the reason was because she was talking about the power of comments on student blogs. This touched a chord with me as my classroom blog is password protected/invite only so I find it difficult to get this kind of powerful feedback for my class. (Please visit the post to see my full thoughts/comments). The motivation to comment here - a topic I connected with and one that I felt passionate about.

  I also agree that it can be quite discouraging to leave a comment for some of the “big” names in educational blogging and get no response at all. Can make you feel a bit insignificant. having said that, I have found most of those I follow and comment on are fantastic and are really supportive and encouraging.

• 4    Harold Shaw // Apr 27, 2008 at 5:06 am

  Sue - I really liked the linked Twitter link picture better, I have noticed that some out in blogosphere world don’t answer back…maybe too busy, maybe too “whatever” that’s okay. It kind of gets under my craw at times, but most of the time I just ignore it.

  But maybe if those that don’t deign to reply to the “common” folk just simply were blocked by those same people who used to follow them, they wouldn’t have as many followers who wouldn’t be there to tweet their requests for info, help, talking, etc. they might get the message.

  I am just a small fish in this large twitterverse, but I do believe that blocking some who don’t respond to me, will begin happening. If enough people do that maybe some of those who don’t respond will get the message?

  In response to your questions:
  1. Is the blog post important to you personally, if you don’t have a connection to what you are writing why write it?
  2. Double check what you are attempting to tell others. What is your message.
  3. Remember that what you write can and will be held against you if negative.

  Clay Burell’s post on the Tweet Clouds, it was fun and informative. I usually read Clay because he is a bit irreverant, uses common sense and answers back.

  Same as above

  Sue you are great and I really enjoy your comments in the blogosphere and twitterverse. Harold

• 5    Here’s My First Five Tips For Writing Better Blog Posts — What Are … // Apr 27, 2008 at 5:11 am

  […] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThis post was in response to a request from Darren Draper and Robin Ellis to follow up on to provide blogging tips and etiquette for their Open PD session on using Edublogs. It will be part of an ongoing series and since we each have a … […]

• 6    ABrambleTakenHold // Apr 27, 2008 at 5:19 am

  […] http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/2008/04/27/heres-my-first-five-tips-for-writing-better-blog-posts-… […]

• 7    dogtrax // Apr 27, 2008 at 5:23 am

  Sue
  These are great points, and it reminds me that sometimes I forget to comment back to folks who have left comments on my blog, which makes it a very unbalanced blog conversation.
  I need to be more diligent about that.
  Thanks for the reminders and hints.
  Kevin

• 8    Elizabeth Clark // Apr 27, 2008 at 5:39 am

  Your first two points apply to any type of technical writing, which includes a lot of blogging. I would add the following:

  * using bulleted or numbered lists, as you did with your main points
  * keeping posts relatively short
  * not overusing bold or italics
  * carefully checking spelling and grammar

• 9    Elona // Apr 27, 2008 at 6:05 am

  Sue,
  One of the most important things I came to realize about writing my blog is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be me. Let me explain.

  When I first started to blog, I was so concerned about making punctuation errors, grammar errors etc. My concern about the mechanics of writing was paralyzing me because I couldn’t think of the words because I was too worried about the other stuff. After all, readers are out there with their red pens ready to pounce- see my insecurity.

  Then one day, I realized that the purpose of punctuation, spelling grammar was to help readers understand what I wrote so then If what I wrote was clear enough that readers could get my point, then that was good.

  I also reminded myself that the work of authors who publish elsewhere, including my articles that were published elsewhere, is edited by many other pairs of eyes. My blog gets edited by me and spell check. That ’s it.

  Once I no longer obsessed about the mechanics of writing, it became a lot easier. If someone does find errors that’s OK. This is just a blog. World peace does not depend on my blog being perfect.

• 10    Mathew // Apr 27, 2008 at 6:40 am

  Awesome post. I want to add to what you said but you might have said it all.

  Okay, I’ll add this. Big shocker…people frequently don’t read posts in their entirety. Big shocker. They skim, they skip lines, they just read the title. So be careful about misunderstandings that might arise if someone only superficially reads a post.

  Also, ending with a question I’ve learned is a good way to encourage comments.

• 11    Lesley Edwards // Apr 27, 2008 at 6:50 am

  Great post and comments. First off this morning I read Kim Cofino’s post on Committing to Conversations: http://mscofino.edublogs.org/2008/04/27/commmitting-to-conversations/ followed by your post on improving your blog. Both resonated with me. In response to your questions:

  1) I whole-heartedly agree with your comment about partial feeds, drives me crazy!
  My own advice: I know that it takes time to find an engaging graphic to go with a post but it’s the great graphic that often draws me into the post or makes the point of the post more powerful.

  2) The thing about your post and Kim’s that made me want to respond was that I made a personal connection with both. In some cases it’s a ‘been there, done that and here’s some advice” connection. In other’s it’s a “Wow, now I get it!” connection or a “this is something valuable that I’m going to try” connection.

  Someone, and I truly wish I remembered who, blogged about how they use Google Notebook to save blogging ideas. It’s a great way to save posts you want to write about and jot down a few of your own comments as a reminder when you have time to come back and either respond to someone else’s post or write your own.

• 12    Elona // Apr 27, 2008 at 6:55 am

  Sue,
  Earlier, I meant to say that I look forward to your posts because I always learn so much. I agree with Mathew, this post is awesome.

• 13    Langwitches // Apr 27, 2008 at 6:58 am

  Very interesting post, Sue. Especially in the wake when so many new edubloggers are becoming discouraged, since they do not receive comments on their blogs.
  I would add to your list of tips to include in your posts relevant visuals. I have just started to experiment with creating visuals of my ideas, processes, timelines, etc by using PowePoint 2007.

  Your tips for new bloggers has inspired a post (coming soon) on my blog how we can encourage and help out new bloggers.

  Thanks !
  Silvia

• 14    Langwitches » Mentoring & Helping other Bloggers // Apr 27, 2008 at 7:33 am

  […] bloggers who are craving for and not receiving comments came from Sue Waters and a great post "First Five Tops for Writing Better Blog Posts " this […]

• 15    Britt // Apr 27, 2008 at 7:47 am

  Lesley made a great connection between your post and Kim’s. My only addition would be to use something like ClustrMaps to become aware that a global audience actually does check out your blog…which in turn motivates you to write better for your readership.

• 16    Cathy Nelson // Apr 27, 2008 at 9:22 am

  No answers yet–just processing all. But here is something I would like to see.

  Most comments on blogs include the typical fields for your name, your web address, and your email address (which generally isn’t shared in the comment that gets posted.)

  Each time I comment on Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog, when he comments back on is blog (as you highly recommend) I get an email too, with the same text that he wrote back in the comment to me. Doug ALWAYS does this, so much so in fact, that I once emailed him to ask him what the trick was to getting the commenters to receive an email when he comments back. Naively I believed that just as one can put a check in the box to receive further comments to a post via email, I was thinking his blogsoftware had a script that automatically emailed people who commented somehow. He politely responded that he is just so thankful that readers comment, he always takes the time to personally thank them (as well as publicly form his blog comment.) No real tricks, just good ol’ fashioned manners.

  But I do think that’d be a nice script to include in the blogger platform. C’mon script writers, work on this.

• 17    mrmadden // Apr 27, 2008 at 9:40 am

  Sue,

  Great post. I have a couple of blogs that are designed to be commented upon by middle school students only (former and current). So I am always wary of going on and on and on and on. Kids are the best at letting you know that your blog is dull or lame.

  I would agree that some blogs get lost in a forest of words–me along with them. The mantra for my postings is: Be brief, be blunt, be gone! This format helps to keep my postings cleaner and coherent–fingers crossed.

  I am guilty, however, in not keeping up my own comment feedbacks. Who doesn’t like being recognized?

  Answers to your inquiries:

  1. Be clear in your writing, reread your post, and stick to the point.

  2. Your post today has insprired me to leave a comment because I can connect personally with the ideas. Also, the fact that you are asking your readers for their own thoughts about the subject of your posting, rather than just writing “at” your readers.

  3.

• 18    mrmadden // Apr 27, 2008 at 9:42 am

  Sue,

  Sorry, didn’t have an immediate idea for my #3.

  -Tim

• 19    jim // Apr 27, 2008 at 12:11 pm

  My tips are to write, write, and write. I am not a very good writer. I have been tempted to quit more than once after reading the blogs of others but you need to keep writing to find your own voice and place.

  I generally find I hit the submit button and send my comments when I find someone out there who shares the same points of view as mind. Sometimes I think I am the only teacher who sees thinks a certain way and am always pleasantly surprised there are others who think like I do.

  And I don’t have an answer to your third post because my blog is for and by my classroom kids. There are way too many people out there who articulate much better than I.

• 20    Sarah Stewart // Apr 27, 2008 at 1:46 pm

  Hi Sue, I was thinking about this the other day and cannot add anything that you have not already said - all those tips you have articulated I have found to be invaluable.

  The other tip I would add is about writing for yourself and not worry about the audience which is tricky when you want to build an audience, so there can be a tension to that. I wrote a very long, tedious post yesterday which I know will not interest anyone much but it has been in my head for years and I am really pleased I have got it down on ‘paper’.
  http://tinyurl.com/5rbyy3

  The posts I have recently responded to are those of Michele Martin in which she talks about homophily:

  Why the Internet is making me stupid
  http://tinyurl.com/583dd6
  and
  Understanding homophily on the web
  http://tinyurl.com/4qd7n7

  I commented on these posts because:
  1. The post titles grabbed me
  2. The content was informative - I had never heard of homophily before
  3. The content was personally challenging and made me reflect on my behavior, beliefs and attitudes
  4. It was contentious - there was a difference of opinions in the comments which made for very interesting reading.

• 21    Sue Waters // Apr 27, 2008 at 3:10 pm

  Thanks everyone for your great input and sorry but this will be an incredibly long comment.

  @bookjewel Etiquette is a really hard topic and I plan to continue this discussion because there are so many layers to it. As a new blogger, I agree the blogosphere does feel like a lonely place. You write posts and feels like no one notices. Then if you make effort to write comments and have no response that makes you feel your thoughts aren’t valued. Make sure you use a comment tracking tool to make your task easier.

  @Larry Thanks for the feedback and the link. I really appreciate all the support and encouragement you give me. As you said we’ve emailed about commenting before. The responding back to comments on your blog are as much for other readers as for the reader who wrote the comment. The readers who don’t get the email don’t know you have responded. Your practise of sending an email as well is absolutely brilliant and is one of the best methods of truly showing you value your readers. In your blog dashboard go to Plugins > Subscribe to comments change to Activate. I’m sure under Options > Comments you are also meant to change a setting but perhaps James has made changes? That’s good advice for writing posts and that is how many of my post on my personal blog came about. My attitude was if I don’t know this I need to know it and so do my readers. I’d never stop to think about how the actual comments on a post can make you want to comment.

  @Kirstin Glad you are enjoying our posts. Visuals are a whole facinating issue that I didn’t have time to write about in this post but watch out for it — probably will be a post on it’s own. Long posts definitely work better with headings. You use blogger which doesn’t give you heading styles so your best solution is to bold the heading only. Can you give me an example of a run on sentences cause I’m trying to visualise what you mean? Totally agree with font colour as I have commented this crime — best solution is to use colour minimally. I had to limit my tips to five because my posts are way tooooooo long but catchy title is definitely in my top ten! Anne’s post was brilliant and also one that I had to comment on — I think I may have also directed people to read her post. From a technical view point her opening quote with the image absolutely grabs your attention and every new blogger should check it out this post to see how well this strategy works. Agreed about the comments on the “big names” and as you say not all are like this.

  @Harold I also agree the photo I shared on Twitter was better but I am one who tries not to stir up too much trouble. Been too busy isn’t a good enough excuse because we are all busy. Our time is just as valuable as theirs. Ultimately though by cutting yourself off from networking with others the person that suffers is yourself and your personal learning — they are the ones that are already losing. I’ll stop tweeting at a person who doesn’t respond just as I stop commenting on posts for the same reason. Excellent responses to my questions. Tip #2 about your message is a really hard one because people can interpret your message differently from how you interpret. Yes, clay’s post was funny and always writes well. Glad you like my thoughts.

  @Kevin (dogtrax) Looks like confession time . I’m not the fastest responder back at comments on my own blog. Not because I don’t care but because commenting on other people posts (especially new bloggers) takes a higher priority (but I’m sure that my community appreciates this). So I don’t promise to be prompt but I do promise to work hard to comment back. Watch some of the really effective bloggers and they are really fast with commenting back on their own posts which does engage their community and encourage more commenting.

  @Elizabeth Excellent points with 3 of the 4 on my list of tips. Large sections of Italics drive me crazy! And possibly I do overuse bold. Ideally a blogger should use a mixture of short and long posts. Posts on this blog are too long but the reasons why are something I will discuss when I get to the tip on lenght. I’m probably the worst offender at grammar and spelling.

  @Elona I hadn’t stopped to think about how authors have their work edited by lots of people; many of who are professional writers. Your right when we put it in this context we all need to chill a bit. Words paralyze me which is why I started my post off with that beginning because we all suffer from this. “If someone finds errors thats okay” - agreed and I’ve made the conscious decision to constantly remind myself of this. My moto as an edublogger is “I give myself permission to make mistakes, to get facts wrong, to occasionally screw up on advice because I’m an edublogger who is trying to learn and learning is about giving yourself permission to make mistakes”. Thanks for your second comment glad you enjoy our posts.

  @Mathew Glad you liked the post and thanks for expanding on my ideas. I did want to talk about how people skim when they read but couldn’t because I had to keep an eye on the length of the post. Normally I take in titles, headings and the first sentence of every paragraph — these are what have to grab me. Using questions effectively is on my list of tips (looking like this is going to be a really long series).

  @Lesley Aragh Kim’s post. Kim and I am just about to start a commenting competition (or war) not sure yet we are still clarifying the details. To encourage people to make the time to support others and comment. The whole use of images as I mentioned in response to Kristin really needs a post, or several posts, just to itself so I will follow up. Good points about what makes you respond — I think probably more people respond to the please give advice (when the post is well worded and the reader can connect with the topic) than any other type of post. What is your thoughts? I’ve also read that post on Google Notebooks so let me check Google Reader and see if I can find it. I am in a bad way it’s Michele Martin and Google Notebook: The Lazy Way to Blog — every edublogger should subscribe to Michele Martin’s blog . Another good method is to annotate using Diigo and then pull it into a post similar to how Vicki Davis did with An example of annotated linking of your blogs comments.

  @Silvia (Langwitches) You are excellent at using visuals on your blog and visuals are really important aspect of blogging. We all need to make time to support new edubloggers and mentor them. Thanks for writing the post and linking to me. Kim Cofino and I am planning a comment competition to highlight/emphasise the need to comment and increase people’s skills at doing this. Perhaps you are interested in joining with us to encourage people?

  @Britt Regardless of age we all love our cluster map. I’ve added a Frappr visitor map to my about page of my personal blog to showcase the global audience.

  @Cathy Some blogging platforms do include this feature and I’ve been meaning to talk to James about it. Perhaps you could help me by posting this comment in the forum so he considers it?

  @Mr Madden Great mantra — “The mantra for my postings is: Be brief, be blunt, be gone!” I need to follow your mantra more often. Your Tip #1 is one of my tips that I ran out of room to write about. Oh no another confession - while I love The Edublogger the type of information I have to share often means I’m writing “at” my readers which as you say isn’t a great idea for a blogger. But it also gets back to the purpose of the blog. If you check my personal blog you will see the greater personal connection with readers because it’s less of this style.

  @Jim Just checked your blog. Whatever you do don’t give up blogging you have it! Why? Because as soon as I read your posts you are making me laugh, you’re connecting with me due to your amazing humour. Forget about being articulate humour is far more important.

• 22    Sue Waters // Apr 27, 2008 at 4:08 pm

  @Sarah sorry your post was held in moderation due to the number of limits I wrote my response back then approved which put it higher than my comment (damn!).

  As you say “The other tip I would add is about writing for yourself and not worry about the audience which is tricky when you want to build an audience, so there can be a tension to that.” This is definitely a hard one and there needs to be a balance. I suppose as a blogger we each need to make our own decisions on this. As you point out your latest post is a classic example. Long (but I can’t talk) and ideally would have been better as separate posts for each person but you have different readers (those who want to read about midwifery and those who want to read web 2.0). If you broke it up into smaller posts than it becomes an issue for your web 2.0 readers - so you’ve probably made the best decision.

  Michele’s post were excellent probably because they are contentious and I disagree since it gets back to the strategies we use. Was interesting to read Stephen Downes response on Online Daily.

• 23    Lee Kolbert // Apr 27, 2008 at 4:26 pm

  Sue,
  You are such a giving person! I’ve learned so much from your blog and recently from you personally. I can’t thank you enough for reaching out to me and helping to refine my blog writing skills. I’ve always been a good writer, but blog writing is different. Like anything else, there is a learning curve and I think I’m taking the corner rather quickly sometimes a little shaky, perhaps on 2 wheels.

  As with the comments I’m receiving on my post, I also recognize the trend towards people wanting conversation and not a one-way broadcast. I feel the same way. When I visit a blog and am inspired to comment, it is because something has struck a chord or perhaps I just want to chime in with my 2 cents as one would with any conversation. I agree that when the blogger comments back, it takes the conversation to a whole new level.

  I’m taking in all of your tips, Sue. Keep ‘em coming!  ~Lee

• 24    Langwitches » links for 2008-04-28 // Apr 27, 2008 at 9:34 pm

  […] Here’s My First Five Tips For Writing Better Blog Posts — What Are Yours? | The Edublogger (tags: blogging tips) […]

• 25    Kirstin // Apr 27, 2008 at 11:38 pm

  Hi Sue,

  If you follow this link it has a fantastic explanation as to what constitutes a run on sentence.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run-on_sentence

  I have a habit of putting these in to me writing as I tend to write “a stream of consciousness”. I am actually making an effort to compose my blog posts away from my blog in order to work on the mechanics. (Now I just need to do the same with my comments - LOL!)

  You’ve inspired me to really take some risks and leave comments on the blogs I visit. Today I was really inspired by this post from Clay Burell

  http://beyond-school.org/2008/04/27/muhammad-ali-a-d-student-in-an-f-school/

  I left a comment and then later I left a second one as the “comment conversation” progressed. I learnt something else a bout commenting… sometimes people will disagree with you. You have to be prepared to accept that someone else may have an opinion that differs from yours. This doesn’t bother me as I like to debate, discuss, play “devil’s advocate” etc, but I can see that this could be intimidating for some and either prevent them from commenting in the first place, or put them off commenting ever again.

  Learning so much from you Sue. Thanks for sharing.

• 26    Your Librarian // Apr 28, 2008 at 12:02 am

  Hi Sue,

  Thank you. I love your blog! I always learn from it for sure.

  One, I try to keep it simple.

  Two, this post and the connection to Geeky Momma.

  Three, since my post is like a daily dose of Dear Abby for students about library-ish resources, I like to post pretty frequently to give them something new. I don’t like to post too often since I want to make sure they’ve had a chance to see the latest post. I want my blog to be a resource for them….Now how do I start measuring that? Hmmph. I’m figuring it out daily!

  Thanks again.

  Ann

• 27    Langwitches » 31 Day Comment Challenge- Are You Up for it? // Apr 28, 2008 at 3:20 pm

  […] Sue Waters from Perth, Australia: First Five Tops for Writing Better Blog Posts […]

• 28    Pat Wagner // Apr 28, 2008 at 4:46 pm

  Hi Sue,
  I really have to admire the tremendous effort that you put into the layout of your own posts. I don’t know how you find the time!

• 29    Sarah Cook Curtis // Apr 29, 2008 at 7:33 am

  Thanks so much for all of the great information. My mind is whirling with so much Web 2.0 information these days that I enjoyed your very practical tools and etiquette strategies. I went back to my blog and added comments, began to follow you on twitter and signed up for the comments challenge. Your modeling is just stellar!!

• 30    free2b // Apr 29, 2008 at 10:00 am

  Thanks to you, Sue, for the helpful information. (Five tips are just the right number) If you wrote ten tips, I probably would’ve scanned it.

  I’m a “newbie” to Edublogs and blogging in general, and can’t wait for some great dialoges to begin.

• 31    Sarah Stewart // Apr 29, 2008 at 11:17 am

  Hi Sue, I’m so excited! You know that long, boring midwifery post I was telling you about the other day…the one I didn’t think anyone would read but I had to write it for my own personal reasons and you replied about it?

  Well, blow me down, it’s been picked up my midwifery’s top ruling body, the International Congress of Midwives. How cool is that! Just goes to show, you never know how your posts will be received.

• 32    drmike // Apr 30, 2008 at 9:26 am

  Greets:

  I don’t like setting feeds to partial either but with all the blog scrappers out there and the ISPs that host them and don’t care, it’s too easy to see one’s writings being swiped and used to the profit of others. I can understand why folks are hesident to set their feeds in such a manner.

  One suggestion that I’ve made a few times is to write posts a day or two a head of time before they get published. That way you can always go back and edit them if you have a second thought and check for typos and errors.

• 33    Stephen // Apr 30, 2008 at 2:00 pm

  Sue,

  This is some great information. As still a somewhat “new” blogger I am always looking for more ways to improve my blogging. It is easy to see why I found this article. I had not tried the different headings or subscribing to my own feeds. The feed I do have is a partial. Looks like I need to change that to a full article.

• 34    Sue Waters // Apr 30, 2008 at 6:43 pm

  Lee,

  Thanks for the nice comments. You do an excellent job of interacting with your readers on your blog. Glad to have been of assistance. See I’m a horrible writer but have learnt some tricks for post layouts. When it comes to writing think of me on 1 wheel.

  Definitely the conversations are important. Funny though - it’s a bit like twitter - really hard to work out what will engage and what doesn’t. Also just because people don’t respond doesn’t mean it hasn’t made a connection with them. Weird.

  See how I’ve gotten bored with my other way of commenting back. Let me know which style of commenting back to a reader is a good method. Would love to hear your tips.

  Kristin,

  I’m going to have to study the run on Sentence more - I’m probably breaking all the rules. But you seem to get away with it more as a blogger — provided it’s readable.

  Clay’s post has been incredibly popular and I’m glad you were inspired to write a response. The best part of the commenting can be the fact that people disagree and your own views are challenged; making you reflect on everyone’s viewpoints. Always happy to share.

  Your Librarian (Ann),

  Thanks the blog is helping you.

  Simple is an excellent tip. It’s funny I had been visualising a post about commenting for weeks but Lee (Geeky Momma) did such an excellent job I decided it was better to link. You know I’m figuring it out all the time.

  Pat,

  Thanks. And it’s best that you don’t know maybe I should let my hubby explain

  Sarah,

  There is an overwhelming amount of information on Web 2.0 and many of us feel it becomes too much. My goal is to break it down into bite size chunks that you grab onto and eat as you go. Excellent work on the commenting back. Regardless of if the original commenter sees the comment it does matter to future readers. I’ve tried to add everyone back on twitter please let me know it I didn’t. Glad to have you with the comment challenge.

  Free2b,

  I wanted to write 10 but knew it was too many. Then as I was writing I really wanted to expand each out but that would have meant a tip per post. So I’ve gone for balance.

  Sarah,

  I remember the post but not sure it was boring. That is such excellent news about the International Congress of Midwives. You can’t tell. I would have thought my post on Being Fat would have worked — so you can’t tell.

  Hey Dr Mike
  I suppose the answer is you have to make a decision between posts being stolen and being read? I just can’t read partial feeds takes too long.

  Totally agree about writing posts in advance. It works really well for some people.

  Stephen,

  All those tips I’ve written about I’ve broke them all myself. Check out my really early posts on my personal blog and you will see. If you have partial feeds generally I won’t tell you and I will unsubscribe. With 200+ subscriptions I can click to read more. I’m already reading enough. Good luck with your blogging and I’m glad the information has helped.

• 35    anne marie // May 1, 2008 at 5:16 am

  Sue
  Thanks for sharing- very informative and helpful, especially to me, a “Newbie” to the world of Blogging! Still don’t quite understand the whole feed issue- partial vs. full, but I will!!!
  Thanks again.

• 36    Bud Deihl // May 2, 2008 at 12:28 pm

  Sue,
  Thanks for the tips. Since I read these, I’ve written a post (url below) on the importance of play as a learning experience and tried to incorporate the idea of chunking information, adding an image, bolding text to provide an overview of thoughts, etc. I’ve basically tried to do the same things in earlier posts, but your list helps me realize that I don’t have to write a treatise; just share thoughts and engage in conversation.

  All the best,
  Bud

  See http://exploratorylearner.blogspot.com/2008/05/play-first-learning-experience.html

• 37    Sue Waters // May 2, 2008 at 8:13 pm

  Anne Marie,

  Thanks I hope my tips have helped. Regarding partial feeds if you use a feed reader like Google Reader and someone has their blog feed set to partial feeds you will only see a bit of their post e.g. 200 words. This means you have to click on the link to their blog to read.

  Bud,

  I just gone across and checked out your post. I can see that you have definitely taken on board the layout tips I gave. Well done. It’s annoying that blogger doesn’t include heading styles so using bold for your headings it the best solution. The other thing you have done which I didn’t have time to share was start with a short paragraph that grabs the readers attention. BTW excellent post about the importance of play.

  You are right about “realize that I don’t have to write a treatise; just share thoughts and engage in conversation”. It’s really hard to get that balance of engaging the conversation by sharing the right amount of information.

• 38    Ken Allan // May 3, 2008 at 4:18 pm

  Thanks Sue!

  Five very useful tips – with follow-ups that are obviously encouraging further contributions to this page

  Your point about always commenting back is cracker! I do not have a blog (yet) but I’ve a passionate interest in online learning and what you’ve given here is so rich!

  Caleb Clark says “communities grow best when there is value to being part of them”. Anything that encourages people to give more is so useful, especially if they don’t think what they have to offer has value. What they can give is at the very heart of a community’s value!

  Ka kite
  from Middle-earth

• 39    mathgeek // May 3, 2008 at 5:59 pm

  Thanks for a great set of tips, but I do have one question. I am doing a blog, but I can’t change the heading size. Can you tell me why, here is the blog: The CPS Help Blog. Thank you for your help.

• 40    Greg // May 3, 2008 at 7:21 pm

  Great set of tips, Sue. Here’s my one tip for writing better blog posts: Have something to say.

  Don’t just write to write. Don’t just post because you’re worried that you aren’t posting frequently enough. In short, don’t waste the time of your audience.

• 41    jjlo // May 4, 2008 at 2:59 pm

  This is my first time knowing what is a blog? I loved, I know it that I will working on it.

• 42    ianmclean // May 4, 2008 at 7:20 pm

  Great post Sue,

  My five tips, to add to your five, or expand them, would include:

  1. Use of humour - especially if I find myself telling a funny anecdote more than once. That usually tells me it’s worth repeating as a future blog entry. (It’s amazing how often I check back through old entries now, and find humorous stories I’ve almost forgotten writing. If they hadn’t ended up in the blog, they’d perhaps be gone forever.)

  2. Know your topic(s). I think that sometimes bloggers try to be too ecclectic. Focusing on a few topics you know well helps the audience to anticipate your future blog entries in those areas. You become “the guru” on a topic.

  3. Know your audience - but also remembering that your audience may well be bigger than you think. (If you miss blogging for an extended period, you are likely to hear from them! I had no idea my two young nieces regularly checked my blog - until I was on vacation, far from an Internet cafe, and they emailed me wondering where I’d vanished to.)

  4. Keep in mind the international nature of the World Wide Web. Be prepared to be informative by embedding a few clues in your posts. Remind them where you are writing from. Some quirky, localized things will seem quite bizarre to those of your readers not familiar with certain terminology, places, customs, the local slang, etc.

  5. A picture is worth a thousand words. A picture can help explain Most of my new visitors seem to come from people following a link to posts via my Flickr photos, which they found during a search of Google Images!

• 43    Ken Allan // May 5, 2008 at 2:40 am

  Gee Sue! You deserve another bar of chocolate!

  I am commenter number 43 on this post and it’s been up for less than 10 days! That’s more than 4 comments per day even if you discount your own very informative comments!

  Wow!

  Anyone would think you’d put up a blog post on how to write better posts

  Great tips, and (obviously) great responses. Your commenters say it all.

  You ask for my tip? I’d say number six would be take a look at Sue Waters’ post on First Five Tips For Writing Better Blog Posts

  Ka kite
  from Middle-earth

• 44    Sue Waters // May 5, 2008 at 4:28 am

  Thanks Ken!

  Definitely the follow up do help by creating a sense of commmunity . I went and read through quite a bit of Caleb Clark’s document. There are so many layers to online communities and encouraging participation. If you look at all different online tools for creating communities there are so many reasons why they will succeed or fail.

  Mathgeek,

  I haven’t tried your theme but have you tried a test post where you use the different headings styles like I did? And if so how did that go?

  Greg,

  Definitely a good tip. I used to worry about the need to post. But now with two blogs there is no time and so post when I do.

  Jilo,

  Good luck with your new blog.

  Ian Mclean,

  Humour is so important. There are some people whose blog I love reading because of their great sense of humour.Unfortunately I fail with your second tip because on my personal blog I tend to be quite random in what I post because I blog as part of my personal learning. That is such a lovely (and humourous) story about your nieces. I’m wondering if I stopped blogging if my readers would notice? I know I got contacted when I stopped podcasting. Oops “she’ll be right mate” I’m sure they get the Aussie slang eventually (I wrote “main drag” in one of my posts and an Aussie friend reminded me that I had used slang). So want to write a post about use of images in posts — it’s on that increbildly long list of to-dos.

  Ken (again),

  LOL you and Ian Mclean both make me laugh. Your sense of humour comes out when you write. Make sure you keep that when you write your blog posts (since you are a new blogger). I like your tip #6 I think I will definitely keep that one

• 45    ianmclean // May 5, 2008 at 5:26 am

  Hi again Sue,

  Thanks for the speedy response! Re my comment about eclectic blogs - I must admit that my personal blog, “Have Phaser, Will Travel” is quite random - although I do warn people that they may well encounter frequent posts about “Star Trek”, Andorians, “Number 96″, superheroes… and Jack Russell terriers. So a happy medium: the freedom to blog about anything and everything, but with a tendency to specialise.

  My interstate nieces reckon they only skim the blog when I’m raving on about “Star Trek” again. They demand their daily chuckle, but obviously aren’t into science fiction, even when I make it funny!

  Early this year, I started up a more professional learning blog, “Booked Inn: Heroic adventures in teacher-librarianship“, and my teaching anecdotes tend to turn up over there. Again, the humour is important, and breaks up more serious posts. I tend to be a glass-half full kind of guy, and a little comedy can help me see the positive aspects of even the worst professional problems.

• 46    Here’s My First Five Tips For Writing Better Blog Posts — What Are Yours? | HILVANANDO // May 5, 2008 at 1:58 pm

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• 47    Kerrie // May 7, 2008 at 3:37 pm

  How pleased I was to recognise each of these tips as something I think I do

• 48    Sue Waters // May 9, 2008 at 2:54 pm

  Ian,

  I might have to confess here that I love watching Star Trek. I don’t watch a lot of TV except for the SciFi channel. The kids and I have certain shows that we watch during the week. Mr9 and I live Star Trek but both kids and I watch Star Gate (for some reason hubby isn’t into SciFi — thinking he has a problem).

  Did make the unfortunate mistake of trying to explain to students that statistics is like being a Vulcan - that it’s all about logic. Only to discover most never watched an episode and their idea of good viewing is Simpsons and Family Guy (students are 17 years and older).

  Kerrie,

  Definitely agree. I checked out your personal blog and realised that we both have similar love of the same types of books.

• 49    ianmclean // May 11, 2008 at 8:12 pm

  Sue, I realised about ten or fifteen years ago that every educational concept ever conceived has been (or will be) covered by a “Simpsons” episode. “Family Guy” and “South Park” are definitely catching up, and all three shows have had their share of hilarious “Star Trek” parody episodes.

  I’m sure your students have at least seen the impressive logic brought to the Springfield monorail episode by its guest character, Leonard Nimoy!

• 50    Com300 Final » Blog Archive » Here’s the final // May 12, 2008 at 5:38 am

  […] Use short paragraphs. […]

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