I remember visiting a blog years ago, authored by a cool, funky artist named Martha Rich. The first thing that struck me was that I could hear her voice with each passing word. Even though there was no real life voice and I couldn't tell if she had a high pitched voice or one from the lower register, or if she had a beautiful accent from some glorious country far away, I could not only hear her voice very strongly, but I also got a sense of her character. Her voice sounded like that of a strong, sassy, woman who had a personality and wasn't afraid to show it.
I loved it, I was engaged (to use a social media buzzzzzword) and I certainly went back for more and continue to do so all these years later. She made me love being able to hear a bloggers's voice and she stands out in my mind to this day as someone who does that so well.
This is my long winded way of suggesting that you write how you talk. Many bloggers struggle with how to write their blog posts. They don't know how to convey their ideas and how to present themselves. Once you figure out what your blog is about and you proceed to writing posts, the easiest part comes next - simply be yourself. You are the best you there is and nobody can be as good a you, as you. So simply be yourself. If you're sarcastic, be sarcastic, if you're opinionated, be opinionated, if you have a dry wit, be dry witted. Bottom line: be naturally you.
Like all animals in the animal kingdom, humans have instincts and they can feel, sense when someone isn't being their natural selves. Even if they're not standing right in front of you, they can sense disingenuous. And that, my friends, is not engaging! So be true to who you are.
I have been blogging for a few years now and I have just very recently started to feel like Stella-is-finally-getting-her-blogging-groove-on. No joke...very recently. There are a few reasons for that. One, I am a meticulously private person (what can I say, it's a family trait and we're very okay with it), and I struggle with going over the border of what's comfortable for me to share. It's like, okay, do I share the tale of my sister's dog passing away and how we're all so broken hearted about it, because after all, my sister would put the dog on the phone with my mother so he could "talk to grandma." So there's that point. Point number two is that I didn't want to write long, drawn out blog posts, because quite frankly, I've got a business to run and being a freelancer is a super-duper-humongous big thing that involves a LOT of time and energy and since blogging is a big job with no paycheck at the end of the week, I really wanted/needed to try and eliminate as many [blogging] steps as possible. That said, I would play the role of "jump-off", meaning I would jump on the blog, write a couple of words and jump off. I don't know if anyone really got a sense of me, my voice or anything about me.
Oops, I guess it's not the end...I just thought of more to say...
PS: Let me add this point. I am a Smurf and I like things to always be happy, lighthearted, positive, sweet, fun and happy again. I feel like negative things and hate are everywhere for free - whether it's from a news outlet or someone making an ugly comment to a stranger on the street - so I've chosen not to bring real life negative stuff into this space. Tracyville is all about happy, fun art, helpful projects and business tips and anything that's easy-peezy-lemon-squeezy! So have a beautiful, breezy day my people and I've gotta get back to work and make some fun-filled art. This is me marching back to the studio, as I sing the infamous Smurf song. La....La...LaLaLaLa... La....La La... La.... Laaaaa!
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