Blogs are really quite interesting, when you think about it. They provide a way to talk about anything you want, to reflect, to share your thoughts and ideas. They even allow you to connect with others. In my limited blogging experience, the one thing I've learned is that keeping a blog can be fun. It's a way to showcase your personality, and if you're like me and sometimes find writing to be difficult, it can help you to explore your creativity and make writing more enjoyable. And when writing is enjoyable, I've found that it's easier to come up with topics to write about.
Another interesting thing about blogs, besides the fact that they allow people to explore, showcase, reflect, etc., is that the types and topics seem never-ending. There are professional blogs, personal blogs, just about any type of blog you can imagine. And the topics are unlimited- people blog about politics, travel, hobbies, food, school, or just random things that happen in their everyday lives. Thus, there are really no common topics, because the topics cover everything. Many use blogs as their personal journals, others talk about one thing in particular. As for common elements, many blogs feature commentary of course, as well as photos or videos or some other media. Authors usually organize the material by date, or if they're writing about a specific topic, by subtopics or categories. For example, if you were blogging about food, you might organize posts under subheadings like "entrees" or "desserts".
Due to my limited experience with blogs, in preparing to write about them I had to do a little bit of research. I searched for some popular blogs to get an idea of what features were common, what people liked to read about, and what made one blog more or less successful than another. In my search, I came across this travel blog which caught my attention. The author, Gary Arndt, has been traveling around the world since March 2007 and posts about everywhere he goes. I like that the layout is simple yet still catches readers' attentions. The photos are spectacular, and the topic is interesting. His writing style is conversational yet informative and easy to read.
Using what I have learned so far, I feel the keys to a successful blog are having an interesting topic, being enthusiastic about the topic, and overall engaging the readers. If the writing is boring, the layout is confusing, and the topic is uninteresting, readers will not keep coming back for more.
