Not sure what to write today? Consider a new format for your post: a shorter or longer word count, a letter or list, or a different approach to your content.
Your blog posts can take so many forms. Here, I’ll share some basic suggestions — including lists, open letters, and collaborations — some of which might be helpful to new bloggers and writers who’d like to switch things up in their writing practice.
Play with word count
If you feel stuck one day and aren’t sure how to write a post, it might well be that your topic and content are solid, but your approach needs tweaking. Have you tried experimenting with word count? If not, here are some ideas:
- Practice: Pick a previously published post you could improve by paring down. Keep it at 750 words or less, like the essays at Brevity, a site of concise creative nonfiction.
- Practice: Want to go long? Expand on an existing post. Search your drafts that are thematically similar and see if you can combine parts of each.
- Publish: Write a new post as a 50-word story, as Vincent Mars does at Boy in the Hat. (Read Vincent’s thoughts on how to tackle your own.)
- Publish: Take a look at some 100-word stories at 100 Word Story, or this piece on Claire Fuller’s blog, then take a stab at one of your own. Your first attempt at flash fiction? Your last vacation? A fleeting encounter at the grocery store?
Give the (open) letter a chance
Shaping your post as a letter might open your eyes to a different way to approach a subject that is important to you. Indeed, the open letter format can fall flat, and some say it’s overused and trite. But great open letters are focused, specific, and passionate.
For inspiration, here are examples of letters:
- Scientist Jacquelyn Gill’s open letter to the governor of Wisconsin.
- Dawn Quyle Landau’s letter to the man who killed her father.
- Chef Michael Twitty’s letter to Paula Deen.
- Susie Lindau’s “Open Letter From My Boobs,” which is a letter from a thing.
- The McSweeney’s archive of open letters to people or entities who are unlikely to respond.
Want to try your own? Here are questions to consider:
- Can you rewrite one of your previous posts as a letter?
- Could you pen a new letter to another blogger you admire?
- Have you read a recent article and wish to respond to the author?
Reinvent the list
One of the most personal posts on my own blog is an outline of my parallel universes, in which I write about my life timeline thus far. I could have approached it as a straightforward, chronological musing, but the numbered outline that lays out various paths of my life, depending on the choices I made, is more interesting.
Not interested in writing a letter? Consider, then, a list — and let’s think beyond the shallow listicles that offer little value or provoke no thought. You’ll find different kinds of lists out there: lists with numbers or bullet lists, outlines with Roman numerals, and more. Some of my favorite posts published on WordPress.com are presented as lists — and transcend the genres of personal essay and creative nonfiction.
Anna Fonte at Girl in the Hat, publishes a mix of lists:
- If I Had a Dollar (Why I Am a Feminist)
- Hole in My Heart
- Train of Thought
- How to Get There
- Teaching Snails to Fly
Maggie Messitt, an author and nonfiction storyteller, has contributed recent posts to Bending Genre that are formatted as lists, from “In What She Left Behind” to “North 20°54, West 156°14.” Take a look at Maggie’s pieces to get an idea for how to approach a numbered list as more of a personal narrative, or to segment an essay or series of musings.
Collaborate with others
In a post offering tips on creative storytelling, I suggested combining forces with someone else and mentioned the collaboration of blogger Shelley Sackier and cartoonist Robin Gott at Shelley’s blog, Peak Perspective. Other ways to collaborate with others:
- One theme, multiple perspectives: Stories From the Belly writer Diahann Reyes invited two of her favorite bloggers, KS of Kosher Adobo and Jennifer Berney of Goodnight Already, to contribute short pieces on a specific topic. She then published the trio’s takes in one post, “Baring the Female Breasts: Beyond Objectification.”
- A site that takes submissions: Jessica Gross, writer for publications like the New York Times Magazine and the Paris Review, recently launched a fun site, Things We Like, which publishes submitted lists of things people like. From blogs like this that invite submissions (think Broken Light Collective) to recurring challenges, there are different ways to work with others.
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Thank you so much for including me in this wonderful list! Some great advice here đŸ™‚
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My pleasure, of course! đŸ™‚
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I just LOVE these variations!! I am having fun doing posts in a “menu” format! Here are my faves.
What Do Bloggers Eat at a Meet & Greet ?? | Once Upon Your Prime
And
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Wonderful information, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for a real crispy treat, especially for a beginner like me. To have a selection of links is going to be fun indeed.
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Excellent. Useful information, concisely presented. Thank you!
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These are really thoughtful and helpful suggestions to improve one’s own blogging experience.
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Sorry to jump in with an unrelated topic but I don’t know where else to go. I’m trying to find out of I can block another blogger from viewing my blog, if anyone has any suggestions please? Sorry again!
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Hi Faye Elizabeth — no worries. I can answer this question. I’m assuming you’re referring to this blog attached to your username: https://kaboodlemum.wordpress.com/
Your blog is public — unfortunately you can’t just block people from visiting it. As an alternative, you can make your site private and invite people to view it by changing your blog’s privacy settings: https://wordpress.com/support/settings/privacy-settings/
You can also update your comment moderation settings if you’d like to accept/trash comments before they appear: https://wordpress.com/support/settings/discussion-settings/
For future reference, the support forums are the best place to ask questions like these: https://wordpress.com/forums/
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Thank you for your help. It’s for a separate blog but it’s okay, I just had a persistent commenter that was a by rude. I’ve trashed all the comment now so hopefully they won’t come back, thanks again for your help! I really appreciate it
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Hi Faye,
If you have a rude commenter, you can put their email address in your comment blacklist and their comments will go straight into your spam folder.
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Thank you Krista! This is great info, I will do that. The sad thing about it is that he’s been doing it to lots of different people too đŸ˜¦
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Great tips!
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I write some rather interesting things in my blog. I don’t know if I’ll be able to change the format of it soon, but I may consider doing that sometime in the future.
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It seems a cool post, but I’m too lazy to read it.
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I reckon that would be a great idea to experiment with creativity, as it is all about it in the long run. đŸ˜‰ Thank you for sharing it! đŸ˜‰
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I’ve been interviewed twice, 1 per different blogger for entirely different topics. I agreed to the interview after perusing and following their blog for awhile so that I understood the “tenor” of their blog and of them as a blogger. It allowed me to see how they interacted with other commenters.
One of the interviews was on identity and race relations while the other interview was on personal experiences on water use and environmental concerns..it was tied abit to my cycling lifestyle. She also interviewed my partner, so contrasted his response to mine for same questions.
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Wonderful information, thanks for your sharing!
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I personally found it easier to answer on my own time, a few set questions from a blogger, for the “interview”. It’s interesting to compare my own response to others who are interviewed. It’s a lot of work for interviewing blogger since there is some editing/further questions for clarification.
That said, I wouldn’t do it often. It’s only for another blogger where there is a great rapport between the 2 of us.
I have inserted an online fun poll within topic posts. It was an okay response. Intent was to get readers thinking/commenting.
Other bloggers offer a real mail-in mini-prize.
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Thanks for the post! I run a teen/ya community. The submission option works well for me.
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Thanks for this very informative post. It does expand the creative horizon.
On another topic : Nominated for Awards. How does this work ? Who sets up these awards? Are they part of WordPress? There seem to be a variety of different awards too. Would be interesting to know. Thanks
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No, these awards are not set up or given out by WordPress.com. Another editor, Michelle, once wrote a post about some of these awards: https://wordpress.com/dailypost/2014/12/03/understanding-blog-awards/
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Thank you Cheri for replying. I did visit Michelle’s post and have a much clearer understanding now.
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Very useful tips. Will try to use some of them in my blog.
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Thanks, I got some good tips from your post and also from the many comments. Inspiration comes from where we find it.
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Thank you so much for the mention, Cheri! My boobs got a lot of concerns off their chest. Wait…. đŸ™‚
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You’re welcome!
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This single article could take me all the way through summer. I can’t wait to dig in and start reading and writing. You’ve even included a section of fresh ideas that I can use with in my current epistolary writing class for high school juniors and seniors. Thank you!
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Thank you for this!!!!
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This is such a wonderful idea! I’ll be using at least a couple of them
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