Even though this Hall of Information is a blog and journey in publishing, its not always going to be about that, and the more diverse your content, the higher chance that passing trade will read it. Now this may contradict my overall advice about branding, but you are the creative boss in all this and diversity in content is sometimes a good thing. In my case, at the time of starting this blog, I was writing science fiction books which are yet to see the light of day, so I needed separate consistent creative content that casual readers could just pick up. More importantly, I needed to write posts that a wide array of readers could relate to.
This can be quite a hurdle for some and might take organisation, depending on how creative you are. Thinking of what subjects could possibly be appealing and compelling for a reader is a challenge. These days, while I have some structure, my ability to think on my feet has improved. As an author who writes with no real plan I’ve become adept at ‘making it up as I go along’ when it comes to some of my blog content. This method isn’t for everyone and it wasn’t always that way for me either. If you do adopt that method, your ability will improve over time by the act of doing – like all writing.
Over the next few years after my first blog post I managed to channel my interests and experiences of life into content. While I did continue to blog about writing and pondering whether I should self-publish, the Hall of Information still needed to operate regularly and be able to reach out to a wider audience.
Readers don’t always want to hear about one thing, variety is a key factor in producing consistent creative content.
It’s easy for me to say consistent creative content but what am I actually referring to? Although these may appear obvious, here is a list of basic blog content ideas that will reach wider audiences:
Introducing yourself in a creative and fun way;
Current Movie Reviews;
Classic Movie Reviews;
Movie Previews;
Television Show Reviews;
Television Show Recommendations;
Video Game Reviews;
Day’s out/experience Reviews;
Food and Nutrition Reviews;
Product Reviews;
Politics*;
Current Events;
Mental health and self-care;
Cosplay;
Poetry;
Regular Diary Style Posts;
Book Reviews.
I have highlighted the last two because back when I began blogging there were two subjects I did not think much about or even cover yet proved instrumental to the success of my blogging endeavours and wider writing career. If both are executed right they can be social and lead to better connections across social media.
My Weekly Ramble blog post is a regular diary style account in a few hundred words of what’s currently going through my mind or a reflection of what’s happening in the world. It’s written in a way where each entry stands alone and over the years I have covered many subjects, from receiving less than satisfactory book reviews to the advantages of being a part of the wider writing community. It’s an opportunity to blog, vent and hopefully reach someone who cares. It’s also written in an inclusive way so I confide in my reader – including others is a fun way of still talking about yourself without feeling guilty or being boring. My weekly ramble post is normally the best viewed article of the week.
Book reviews are a key part of my blogging.
*When it comes to politics and heavy opinion, these are subjects I would advise you steer clear from early on. There are prolific bloggers out there who thrive off controversial subject matters and for those with a smaller following this sort of practice will only hurt that. Heavy opinion/political pieces also attract attention that may not be the type you want, if you want to sell books or get regular views.
This is an exclusive excerpt of authoring and blogging guide book Consistent Creative Content which is out now.
Lee's Hall of information 