Friends, if you’re wanting to become a published writer, I highly recommend starting a blog (and promote your blog on social media). I know I bang on about blogging so much, but it really is a gateway to getting wider exposure.
Blogging is a great way to get practice, to show commitment to a task, to show that you can meet a deadline (even self imposed) and to show that you can handle criticism. Promoting it on social media might just get the attention of an editor who might want to republish and pay you for your awesome writing! Or a company might like your writing style and content so much they might ask you to work with you in a different way! Blogging gives you an awesome portfolio of work to show people you’d like to work with.
If you get confident and pitch to an editor, your pitch doesn’t have to be complicated – just:
“Hi, I wrote this about this issue/person/fun thing. Would you like to publish it on your awesome website? I think it suits your publication because… I could edit it so it looks like this. Thanks so much!”
You could even catch the attention of an editor by tweeting their publication, or using some clever hashtags.
(I took a course through the Australian Writers Centre, it was Magazine Writing and Pitching (as a prize from being named a finalist in the Best Australian Blogs Competition), and I can’t recommend this highly enough! The Facebook group for graduates is SO supportive and people share lots of valuable information!)
And if you need to get some confidence pitching to editors, start by pitching to other bloggers, asking if you can guest post on their blog! Guest posting is a great way to reach a new audience and build communities.
Even if you don’t want to become a published writer, blogging is such a good way to keep a record of your life and to meet new friends. Blogging is also a great way to get to know yourself through writing, and see how far you’ve grown.
Go forth and blog! But don’t just start a blog. Keep going. Keep at it. Good luck!
(Monday’s blog post was picked up by an editor and was republished on Daily Life. Look at this wonderful conversation!)
For advice about starting a blog, click here.
I am developing a blog course to be released this year. If there’s anything you’d like to know about blogging, please let me know in the comments and it might be something I include in the course!
Thanks for this Carly. It's very generous of you to share your tips and knowledge. I enjoy blogging because it keeps me writing (though I need to get back into the rhythm with 2015. I started blogging at home with. Y tiny baby in a new town and new life, and although my following is teeny, I love my regular readers. I am grateful that blogging has opened new avenues of writing for me, like children's book reviews and revisiting the themes of poetry and letter writing.
The other big upside is discovering and reading other peoples writing.
Thanks Carly, great advice! I've recently started my own blog, after thinking about for ages, and have found it to be great fun! A really great release from my day job (which is where I know you from!), and it has helped my writing in all facets of my life. In my blog I find I can be funny, irreverent, rude and personal – all the things I can't be in my day job! Very keen to learn more about your blogging course 🙂
http://www.mummamcdblogs.com
Starting a blog is fantastic advice for any writer. It's your own space, one where you can work on your style, have fun with words and connect with other writers. It's an amazing experience just on its own, regardless of whether it leads to anything more. Your own successes should be all the proof people need to follow your advice!
Hi Carly, I've been reading you blog for years and do not often comment. I was wondering, do you have any advice for blogging and still maintaining anonymity? Just wondered if you had come across anything in your research.
I'd be so interested in a blogging course but again I have privacy anonymity issues:
Thanks!!
Great advice and such an inspiration Carly! I am being quite strict with myself and my 'self imposed' deadlines this year on my two blogs, and imagining things beyond my imagination 🙂
Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.
I love the combination of blogging and writing. It is a nice combo when I am negotiating travel deals I can cross promote through the articles and the blog. Also you can write whatever you like in a blog, I love the freedom. Looking forward to your course!