Should Fiction Writers Blog and Create High Quality Content

Should fiction writers blog? If you are a new or relatively new blogger, you need to know how to write great posts and consistently produce high quality content like the masters. Learning how a platform like WordPress works, is challenging. Managing the blog, the technical aspects plus integrating social media and fielding the myriad emails every day will make you appreciate how daunting it all is.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

So Should Fiction Writers Blog?

Some say fiction authors should not blog because it is time consuming and takes them away from writing books. I disagree, because a good blog can boost book sales as early as year one. Follow the link and read more in the second post on this subject.

There are valid arguments against writers blogging. Should fiction writers blog? I believe aspiring authors should blog for ONE reason. Content creation for beginners, producing high quality content, will bring organic traffic and eyeballs to your books. And this is crucial to every aspiring author.

There are other benefits but this one alone should be a compelling enough reason to take it seriously.

If you spend time setting your blog up with enough initial posts (around 30) it can run passively, and you may decide to add new posts periodically once it is established. You will have a constant stream of visitors which can be funnelled to your book landing pages automatically, and you can concentrate on writing more books.  

Content Creation for Beginners

If you want blogging to be your main source of traffic – To consistently produce high quality blog content, posts should;

Respect for Part-Tme Bloggers

I learned early, to respect all part-time bloggers who have full-time jobs. If you are one, I really do admire you. How do you do it?

Having said that, it is one of the most exciting, challenging and invigorating projects I have ever undertaken.

And consistently producing quality blog content is at the heart of it.

How to Create Quality Content

When you set out on your blogging adventure, don’t think you will spend all your time writing blog posts. You must understand the process and consider what you need to learn a new business model from the ground up.

Blogging is Like Buying a Car

You need to know how:

Take these Steps to Avoid a Serious Accident

You will make mistakes, but if you take these steps you will avoid a serious accident.

1. How it works – I will assume you understand the basics of blogging. Refinements will be made over time and you need to keep up with changes. But you have grasped the basics well enough to embark on the journey. This slight digression illustrates the point and may help if your car breaks down unexpectedly.
2. Maintenance – Learning to maintain your blog is a continual process but with an awesome partner like WordPress, it’s like having your own personal back office. So you should feel pretty confident there’ll be no major breakdowns. (Why should you use WordPress?)
3. Driving – With an inspiring driving instructor in WordPress you should be able to pass the test first time and then move on to advanced driving quickly.
4. The map & content – Then there is the road map (the heart of your blog) which is a big stumbling block for most bloggers, particularly rookies. There is a greedy audience out there with a voracious appetite for quality content. The competition is tough and there are many seasoned experts who consistently produce quality blog content to acquire and hold on to an audience of loyal followers.

Authors Have an Advantage

Authors of novels are used to writing 60 – 100,000-word books and over 1000 words a day. And they have an advantage over other writers. Natural creativity and the crafting of posts should come easier and the length, 1000 to 3500 words represents one chapter of a book.

Blogging is short form writing, enhanced by graphics, videos, tables, and images.

How to Tackle Step 4

Assuming you are confident about steps 1, 2 and 3, how will you tackle the critical step 4? Knowing that if you are a serious blogger it isn’t going to stop until you die.

I can’t tell you how to do it and I wouldn’t be so presumptuous. It’s your blog, not mine. But I can share my thoughts and explain how I approached it and how I manage my blog content.

Ask These Questions

• Is there a subject I have some knowledge of which could be of value to others?
• Would I enjoy writing about it as a hobby and could it become a passion or even a business?
• Am I happy to share my thoughts, views, experiences and knowledge with anyone who cares to read my Blog?
• Will I benefit and learn from interacting with people I don’t even know exist?
• Am I prepared to put in the hard yards to make it a success?
• Will it benefit my author business?

If you can give a resounding YES to these questions without exception, you need not worry if you don’t have enough material to draw on right now. There is an abundance on your chosen subject waiting for you to find.

Prepare a Plan

You need to be analytical, before you get too excited. You need a master plan. Then you can write and learn how to create quality content to make your blog evergreen.

List your Interests

List the things that interest you most and where you have some knowledge. You don’t have to be a professor to write about your hobbies.

Tip: Pick one and only one.

If you’ve travelled a lot you will probably have many stories you could tell about the places you’ve been, photos and information which would be useful to others.

You may be an amateur photographer who knows enough to help others get started. Or a hill-walker, or… The possibilities are endless. But you don’t want anything on the list you won’t get a buzz from writing about.

Harvest Material

When you have selected your subject, gather, sort and collate material you have already collected, from wherever it is stored. Computer hard drive, handwritten or typed notes, old photographic prints, letters, documents, books and the largest repository, your head. There is more in there than you’ll find in Granny’s attic. Sort and organise it.

Start a Journal

Start a Journal in MS Excel and note every idea and thought as it happens. I now use Trello. Create tabs such as; Blog ideas/subject, Countries lived in/visited, Memories, Characters etc. It will grow quickly and you may not use it all. But there is a story in virtually everything we see or hear if you look closely enough. There is beauty in the ordinary and we are only limited by our imagination or lack thereof. Your journal should be bursting at the seams very quickly.

Organise your Blog Posts

When I started out I wanted to be ahead of the game, so I produced enough posts which I stored so I could modify and release them as I wished. Then I scheduled them at bi-weekly intervals, and managed to get several months ahead of the game.

I had the urge to post as soon as I had written, but I learned to resist. A pipeline of draft posts is great to have because like a fine wine they mature if left for a while before fine-tuning.

If they relate to current issues you can’t do that. And I would recommend making all your posts as evergreen as possible and turn the date off your posts.

I have modified this post many times since I wrote the first draft. But the less you have to do that the better. Learn and improving your skills daily. 

I recommend this approach for new bloggers, so as to build up a portfolio of content as quickly as possible. But never sacrifice quality. Building a planned release programme is preferable to relying on intuition.

TIP. Check out this post –Can blogs boost book sales in the first year?

Review Old Posts Periodically

As the saying goes ‘old soldiers never die’, and so it is with quality posts. A lot of time thought and effort goes into consistently produce quality blog content. So do not neglect your old posts. Not all posts will have the longevity you desire, and they certainly won’t if you ignore them.

A Blog is a library, and all libraries contain books that have many editions. Just like library books some of your posts will benefit from a facelift occassionally. Add better or new pics, new information, better formatting and presentation or maybe even a complete re-write.  

Warning: Don’t change the URL unless you have to. And if you do make sure to 301 re-direct.

There are new readers who will be visiting your library who have never read any of the posts. So the easier and more attractive you make it for them the more they will enjoy them.

Take Photos & Create Art

Photography became an important part of my blog early on. And adding my own pictures added authenticity. With practice, you will learn to develop a feeling for what photos you need to add to your blog, where to put them and what size they should be.

There are millions of royalty free photos available on sites such as Unsplash, Pexels and Pixabay you can use and mix them with your own if they are up to scratch. Know the story behind the photos if it is possible, and thereby combine Photo-Art with Blogging.

Write Guest Posts

It’s a feather in your cap when another blogger offers to contribute to your blog by writing a guest post for you. But you should be strict about the quality and content, and vet closely before publishing. If it doesn’t add value to your Blog don’t publish it.

There are many online publications in a variety of genres who welcome contributors. So if you want to get known outside your own Blog start Googling. I wrote monthly columns for two publications for a year and enjoyed the experience. When I started writing books I didn’t have time to continue. But it is worth considering.  Building a trusting community takes time and persistence.

TIP –  Be selective and relevant to your subject when considering Guest Posts.

Assess Time, Material, and Desire

I will run out of time long before I exhaust the supply of content. I have the desire now but I cannot predict the future. So Time is a bigger problem than Content.

It may be different for you. But you need to know your strengths and weaknesses. Without a vivid imagination, a young writer is more likely to struggle for material than an older one. It stands to reason, the older writer will have many more years to gather knowledge and life experience.

That doesn’t mean he will use it better.

Be Realistic and Confident

Blogging successfully is not only about how to create quality content. But without it, you are a non-starter. There are some articles out there which, in my opinion, put the ‘cart before the horse’, intimating that you can get thousands of visitors every month from day one. If that happens you have done something miraculous.

If you set your blog up well and write 25 to 30 good posts when starting out, it will take 7 to 8 months to see much traffic. You need to commit to a year of development in order to learn and build a blog on solid foundations with sustainable long-life content which will bring regular traffic.

TIP. Check this post: Can blogs boost book sales in the first year?

Study Top Bloggers Content in Your Niche

There is a lot to learn, but how rewarding it is. Sites like wpbeginner.com are a fantastic source of information and support for bloggers at any level. There are many out there but it takes time to find the good ones.

I am pleased I went through the process which helped me create my road map and gave me confidence. Barring unforeseen events, the World is a treasure trove. It should supply you with sufficient good quality blog content to satisfy your readers for a long time to come.

When you are confident you have something of value to offer you may need to arrange, with a higher power, an addition to the 24 hours a day we have been allotted.

Mastering the art of attracting more followers without taking your ‘eye off the ball’ is another challenge I am still working on.

How about you? What ideas can you share for continually producing quality blog content to satisfy yourself and your readers?

And how did it go in your first year?

This is how mine went.

 

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Updated April 2024