{"id":394,"date":"2011-11-22T20:42:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T09:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/just-another-blog-post-about-blogging-and-ducks\/"},"modified":"2021-05-18T11:44:43","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T01:44:43","slug":"just-another-blog-post-about-blogging-and-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2011\/11\/just-another-blog-post-about-blogging-and-ducks\/","title":{"rendered":"A blog post about author blogging (and ducks)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know what you’re thinking \u2013 what do ducks have to do with writing an author blog?<\/p>\n

Stay with me.<\/p>\n

I had an editor once who liked to talk about ducks a lot. About how their effortless glide across a pond concealed a whole lot of hard work, churning and strain underneath.<\/p>\n

That, he told me, is what writing should be like. Good writing.<\/p>\n

Readers, he said, do not want to know about how difficult it was to organise a particular interview. They do not want to know how long it took you to find a park, or how you arrived flustered and red-faced only to discover that your interviewee was still in the shower.<\/p>\n

What they want, he continued (at length), is a simple, beautifully written profile piece.<\/p>\n

About the heart of the story \u2013 not about you.<\/p>\n

I spoke to a very good blogger today, who said something similar about blogging.<\/p>\n

“I write my blog every day as though it’s the first day that every reader will visit it,” she said. “What do I want them to see?”<\/p>\n

Blogging can be hard work. Of that there is no doubt.<\/p>\n

There’s a lot to consider, a lot going on in the background. Decisions to be made about X, Y and Z. All very important stuff.<\/p>\n

But probably not for readers. Who just want to admire the sunshine on your glossy feathers as you sail across the smooth surface of the blogosphere.<\/p>\n

What shines your particular set of feathers will be different to the blog next door – it might be humour or pathos or advice or raw passion or stunning images or mouth-watering craft.<\/p>\n

The churning? Not so much.<\/p>\n

\"AL<\/a>

Image Credit: Mick Elliot<\/p><\/div>\n

Are you new here? Welcome to my author blog! I\u2019m Allison Tait, aka A.L. Tait, and I\u2019m the author of two epic middle-grade adventure series, The Mapmaker Chronicles and The Ateban Cipher, and a new \u2018almost history\u2019 detective series called the Maven & Reeve Mysteries (you\u2019ll find <\/em><\/strong>book #1 THE FIRE STAR here<\/em><\/strong><\/a>).<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

You can find out <\/em><\/strong>more about me here<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and <\/em><\/strong>more about my books here<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know what you’re thinking \u2013 what do ducks have to do with writing an author blog? Stay with me. I had an editor once who liked to talk about ducks a lot. About how their effortless glide across a pond concealed a whole lot of hard work, churning and strain underneath. That, he told […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[724,717],"class_list":["post-394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging","category-writing","tag-blogging-for-authors","tag-build-your-author-platform"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to write a great author blog (with or without ducks)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Writing a great author blog is like any great author. Find what makes you different and write about that. Make it look easy! 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