What makes a great blog for writers? Write To Done is holding their 6th annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers contest.
As I looked through the nominations, I found myself considering the value of this beyond selecting a winner. That the true winner does not mean that the blog in second place (or tenth place) is any less valuable, just valuable in a different way.
There are some very cool and useful blogs that are getting a lot of nominations, including:
http://goinswriter.com
http://therenegadewriter.com
http://thecreativepenn.com
http://storyfix.com
http://writerunboxed.com
And many others. But why would one blog have 37 nominations and another 107? It goes beyond the age of the blog, the credibility of the author, or how well they market their work. Different blogs will resonate with different people in different ways. Some reasons:
- Craft vs career – each blog may approach this differently, with some focusing only on the craft of writing, others on how to build a career, others how to earn money, and most with a unique mix of these.
- Goals – Some are focused on writing their first novel, others are learning the ins and outs of self-publishing, some define success by earning money, along with many other possible goals.
But I think this is the big reason: tone and personality. In other words: who do you resonate with? Whose voice and style speaks to your heart, to your vision of what a writing life should be? Who gets your engines started? This is a highly personal reason, not an objective measure of which blog is better than others. Even for the short list of blogs above, each has a unique style. That is what I love about the thriving online community for writers – there is so much room here because everyone is so unique.
In the end, being nominated is the reward. That someone, somewhere, took action to nominate and thank you for your work as a blogger. Mostly, I am finding the nominations list really useful to discover new blogs, and be reminded why blogs I like are so powerful in helping shape people’s lives.
Who would I nominate? Jane Friedman. Why? Just a few reasons off the top of my head:
- She is giving. What she shares is meant to empower others, and she is incredibly generous in both the amount of what she shares, and the quality of her advice.
- She focuses on the whole writer: building a career, as well as a body of work.
- Her blog posts discuss the best ways to leverage technology, while not having technology eat you alive.
- She is constantly in the trenches with writers at conferences and meetups, she spent years as Publisher of Writers Digest, and now teaches at University of Cincinnati. This is to say nothing of her presence in social media and elsewhere. These interactions with writers fuel her blog with incredibly practical advice.
Check out the full list in the comments section of WriteToDone.com and add your own nomination. If you are unsure who to nominate, see the list above for some great blogs to start with. Whatever you do, do NOT vote for my blog – put your vote to Jane, or Joanna, or Jeff or someone else who inspires you as a writer, and helps you improve your work and grow your career.
Thanks!
-Dan