1. CC1H01N1 – Study Skills for Computing/Multimedia Week 2 – Tutorial – Blog Writing

2. Agenda What is a Blog? How to Write An Effective And Compelling Blog Formatting Guidelines Tips to improve your blog Summary

3. What is a blog? It is a part of our social networking community It is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse- chronological order.

4. How to write an effective and compelling blog Content Write about what you know The idea is establish your organization, yourself and your personal brand Choose pints that are current and readers are interested in Try to make information shared in your blogs as compelling to visitors as possible

5. How to write an effective and compelling blog Content Keep it to 500 words or less (this is not a doctorial thesis) Which implies that the content is keep at a high level and is, for lack of a better word, “dumbed down” Keep it fun Talk to your reader as if they were sitting in the room with you and you were having a conversation When appropriate, include links to other references, related articles, web sites, and media

6. How to write an effective and compelling blog Visuals Incorporate images that are relevant to the content This keeps the reader from feeling overwhelmed when they visit the page Have information pertaining to the author A picture Short biography Contact information Has a series of definable categories that relate to its content

7. Formatting Guidelines Title Should clearly articulate the topic of the blog Usually will ask a question, provide a list or give guidance on how to do something Examples: My freshman year How to increase your effectiveness in studies. Can I Deduct That?

8. Formatting Guidelines Opening Paragraph Should be an attention grabber It shows if the blog is worth reading at all Should be articulated in less than five sentences.

9. Formatting Guidelines Body Should follow the format of your title. So if we are talking about the 5 Most Effective Strategies for studies, list them, give an example of why it is a good strategy and tell your reader how to implement it Again, keep it high level

10. Formatting Guidelines Closing paragraph or summary Summarizes the main points of the blog Closes in three sentences or less.

11. Tips to Improve Your Blogs

12. Things to consider 1.Inspirational Chaos 2.Diverse Ideas 3.Grammar and all the other stuff 4.English

13. 1. Inspirational Chaos Just typing more does not mean its ok Typing away with no end in sight like ‘verbal/written diarrhoea’ Editing your work shapes things up Helps thoughts come together

14. 2. Diverse Ideas People get lost in their sentences or words Does it make sense People may capture your writing differently

15. 3. Grammar and all that other stuff Editing as you write never works out Take time to edit Make sure you don’t miss one or two words when editing Spell check

16. 4. English Very important factor in one’s work Even if you consider yourself fluent in English – edit your work Mistakes can be committed by anyone

17. 7 Simple Tips

18. 1. Take a breather after writing First mistake is to edit straight away Hard to pick up errors right away Can add new ideas next time

19. 2. Divide and Conquer 1.Content editing 2.Structure editing 3.Grammar editing

20. 3. Less is more When it comes to words – less really is more. Don’t use complicated jargon Don’t try to use the same sentences in different forms Stop overusing specific words. For e.g. As, Therefore etc.

21. 4. Don’t trust Spell-check Tools don’t understand your writing Difficult to grasp variations of sentences or word usage

22. 5. Read at random Choose a random paragraph and edit Why? – Stops you from reading in “auto-pilot” Stops from knowing you from what’s coming next.

23. 6. Don’t overdo it Know when you have had enough. If you find rewriting the same sentence over and over again – that’s it.

24. 7. Learn from your mistakes Always analyse what you have done wrong Practice to get to your goal writing style

25. Summary – Remember Write about what you know Keep it simple Engage your readers by offering relevant and simple to understand topics

26. “ Write Drunk; edit sober” – Ernest Hemingway

27. References ORBA (2011) Guidelines for Writing an Effective Blog [online] Available from: http://www.slideshare.net/frankemc/blog-writing- 6618356 (Accessed on 28th October 2012) Contreras, N. (2012) 7 Editing Tips to Improve your Blog-Writing Skills [Online] Available from: http://socialmediatoday.com/ndcv/862641/7-editing-tips-improve- your-blog-writing-skills (Accessed on 28th October 2012)