As I write this blog post, I will be sincere. I cannot write a blog post that resembles a news story no matter how hard I try.
Although my first serious writing style was based on The New York Times news articles, I started reading them at 8. It evolved to a conversational style over my 30-year career. Even though my style has changed, I have not stopped researching news articles. Writer Access clients had several sources for some of the pieces that I wrote. They still contained a lot of information even though they were written "talking" about the readers.
When clients started assigning me blog posts to write, I continued writing news articles. An editor suggested that I don't have to write an essay about President Obama's proposed health insurance plan. It would cover every aspect of the project. He wrote, "Relax." It's a blog entry.
What is the difference between a blog article and a news story? ACCORDING TO THIS MAGAZINE ARTICLE, although I have shown a part of the answer in these paragraphs, the differences are getting smaller. Blog posts are more personal. The "voice" of each writer is what distinguishes them from one another. As I demonstrated by talking to readers, news article writers can also be very different news articles. However, news articles are more structured and have a stricter voice.
If this were a news article, I would have focused my attention on the sources I found for the topic like The Washington Post Ezra Klein blog post " blogs vs. articles" or WritersDigest.com Brian Rob blog post " The 12 Dos & Don'ts of Writing a Blog."
An article could start with "Do you want a blog post? or a news story?" The second paragraph could read, "Noted writer Ezra Klein wrote both and has advice about the differences." I would then report on Klein's and Rob views rather than my thoughts.
As a news reporter, I felt obliged to read Klein and Rob. This blog post is, in part, a book articles, as I stated in the first sentence. Klein says that a report would provide Klein's viewpoint, while blog posts give more detail.
He wrote, "An article feels more like a lecture."
Blog posts are personal and have more readers. Articles should be concise and more detailed to avoid losing readers. Klein added that it is possible for readers not to be able "to speak with you again." Rob also stated that blog posts should not exceed a specific word count.
Rob tips and tricks could be listed here. But this is a blog post, so that I will end with my tips for potential web bloggers.
- Focus on the topics you are passionate about, rather than what you think people would be interested in. Last year, I encountered an inexperienced writer who wrote about sports all over. However, there are dozens of well-known bloggers that write about sports. He wanted to concentrate on high school sports.
- Write short paragraphs. This is what I have seen in research. Long sections make readers cringe. It's just too much work.
- Encourage your readers to comment on blog posts and to respond. It is essential to build a relationship with your readers. It is necessary to solicit their opinions and then write blog posts about their top stories.