Ask HN: How do you start a blog?

6 points·Mathnerd314··7 comments

A blog is similar to many other undertakings, such as start-ups or coding projects. Is there some common process for taking a newly-created blog to a good one? A list of common blogging conventions? Ways to ensure that a blog will not be forgotten and molder in the dust for months?

(Suggestions for why I shouldn't start a blog are good too)

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Rule number 1 is to write, write, and keep writing.

You'll figure out your style and your stride with a ton of practice. The biggest thing that people do wrong is that they don't write enough.

I agree with this.

And don't worry if you suck at first, because nobody is going to read it! [at first]

Make sure you have something to say/have some expertise on a subject.

That's good for a few posts, but what happens if you run out of things to say? (or are you saying that I should only start a blog if I have lots of things to say?)

Learn.

Don't write for "an audience". You have two main options on who to write for: yourself alone (i.e. a public diary) if you have the discipline to keep it up, or some specific person, e.g. your mom, your spouse, your officemate. Either way, don't worry about your readership. It'll come or it won't, but the surest way to be a bad blog that can't attract readers is to actively try to attract readers.

Good luck!

I think you need to pick some kind of theme. It doesn't need to be overly narrow or specific but I think to be successful you can't just willy-nilly talk about everything under the sun that strikes your fancy.

A reason to not start a blog: If you don't have clear boundaries and/or you are not very Net-savvy, the risk of getting fired from your job/losing your love interest/getting arrested/etc for something you stupidly posted for the entire world to see may be inordinately high.

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