Legal Ghostblogger

Arianna Huffington Reveals the Secret of Successful Blogging to Daily Show's Jon Stewart

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Arianna Huffington

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

 

"Isn't that just a waste of people's time?"  -Jon Stewart (to blogging evangelist Arianna Huffington)

 

Blogging is anything but a waste of time, especially if you blog about your passion, says Arianna Huffington, who appeared on the Daily Show December 3rd to talk about her new book The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging.  (Although Huffington only actually authored the introduction to the book, the bulk of it is by other Huffington Post writers.) "Blog your passion," Huffington responded to Stewart when he asked one of the ways that bloggers can get their blogs noticed, "blog your obvious passion and blog your secret passion." 

 

The whole interview is entertaining and enlightening (thank you to my brother Kevin for bringing it to my attention), with Stewart playing doubting Thomas to Huffington's sincere belief in the power of the passionate poster. But the money moment of the entire show was when Huffington seemingly accidentally verbalized perhaps the best definition of blogs I've come across:

 

"Blogging is not about perfection. Blogging is about intimacy, immediacy, transparency, and sharing your thoughts the way you would with a friend."

 

And that is it, my friends.  That is the power of the blog in a world that has gotten too good at polls, focus groups, and target marketing. A blog is where you go beyond all that and build authentic relationships.

 

Although... Jon Stewart did ask about people whose main contributions are comments such as "I think he's a dick for saying something I disagree with."  Oh there's plenty of those out there too, Jon, plenty of those out there too.

These few Precepts in thy Memory…

“Lo, thus, by day my limbs, by night my mind,
For thee, and for myself, no quiet find.”

(Sonnet XXVII, by William Shakespeare, b. Apr. 23, 1564, d. Apr. 23, 1616)

It is obvious from the above quote that William Shakespeare had the heart of a blogger.  Aside from experiencing the unquiet both day and night (a condition with which ALL bloggers are familiar), he was creative, appealing, humorous, unafraid, and most of all, prolific; all qualities which are essential in any successful blog writer.

But Shakespeare has much more to offer bloggers than writerly solidarity, and a close look at his works reveals the following lessons for blog writers:

1. Exclude irrelevant details. Shakespeare gave very little stage direction. In fact, most of his direction consists of “Enter Romeo” or “Exeunt”.  Blogs are by nature short, and writers have only a few paragraphs in which to express their thoughts to readers. Those readers appreciate writing that is straightforward and concise.
2. Be versatile: When his public was looking for comedy, Shakespeare gave them The Taming of the Shrew.  When they were struggling with their consciences he wrote Hamlet.  Bloggers too, must always have their fingers on the pulse of their readership.
3. Pay attention to language: “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…” Shakespeare’s language was honest and inspiring, gritty and beautiful.  We can’t all aspire to the same authorial genius, but we can give our readers a beautiful architecture; spelling, punctuation and grammar are the foundation, our passion for the subject matter is the heart.
4. A good ending: Shakespeare’s plays almost always ended with a wedding or a funeral.  He left very few loose ends.  Blogs that end well stay in a reader’s mind, and keep them coming back for more.
5. Make your writing available to the public: As bloggers we don’t have entire acting troupes and theater staffs at our disposal, but we do have e-mail subscriptions, RSS readers, and regular posting schedules.  Let your readers know when and where to find your work, and have it easily available.

Harold Bloom writes of Shakespeare as the inventor of the human; perhaps we could dub him the patron saint of bloggers as well.

What Living with the Irish Taught Me about Progress

A couple of years ago my family went to live in Dublin, Ireland for a few months. The experience of living in another country was an eye-opener, and one I would gladly repeat if given the chance. While there I was privileged enough to learn some fascinating lessons from and about another culture.  But the thing I think about most in regards to blogging and business is the beautiful way Dubliners were able to fuse history and progress.

Dublin (and Ireland in general) had only recently come into its booming economy. Everywhere we looked there were new buildings going up, old buildings being refurbished, neighborhoods being expanded or roads being re-surfaced.  In some areas it was quite a shock to see the beautiful landscape end suddenly in a very modern looking mall, but in many places the advent of progress was tasteful and seamless, and nowhere more so than Dublin Castle, where ancient stone turrets are flanked by a more modern brick and glass library.

Blogging and social media have also only recently come into their booming popularity (by recently I mean within the past 5 or 10 years), and are still experiencing some growing pains of their own.  Bloggers still have to deal with people asking “Blog?  What’s that?”  Or what’s worse, there are many out there who are suspicious of blogs and inclined to regard them as gossip.  Many of us bloggers want to embrace the new media; explore it and push it to the limits to see what we can do with it.  But some of our readers won’t be ready for too much change all at once.  Not only that, the history that brought us to blogs is rich and beautiful, and still holds many useful lessons for us.

So how can bloggers, like the Irish, fuse history and progress? Well, my personal history is in literature, which means I like to take my lessons from the great writers; Shakespeare, Swift, Austen, Twain.  These were writers who knew the range of human experience and cared deeply for it.  They weren’t afraid to write about what was unpopular, they weren’t afraid to poke fun at serious topics.  They also knew that what they wrote made an impact on people, and took their craft seriously.

Readers on the internet have notoriously short attention spans, and any blogger knows that you have to grab attention quickly, say what you have to say, and leave them wanting more.  But I say that with all of this brevity we’re forgetting some of our history.  There is value in fine writing and a thought followed to completion.  And maybe—just maybe—there are still a few readers out there who would prefer Dublin Castle to a shopping mall.

If Classic Writers Were Bloggers

I love that blogging is so new, and that we’re all getting in on the ground floor.  It’s wonderful to be a part of this burgeoning new style of writing.  There is so much conflict and debate, creativity and innovation. Each and every one of us who has a blog has a chance to shape this new literary form.  Is this how Miguel De Cervantes felt, writing Don Quixote, one of the first novels ever?  Now I’m not saying that my writing is equal to any of those classic writers, but what if some of those classic authors were around today, dipping their pens to the blogosphere. . . ?  (Caution: Irreverent and possibly traitorous thoughts ahead.)

William Shakespeare’s Blog: Words, Words, Words; daily commentary on the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

Charles Dickens’ Blog: The Artful Blogger; whether I will turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anyone else, these posts must show.

Miguel De Cervantes’ Blog: Leaving La Mancha; a chivalric quest for the digital grail.

Jane Austen’s Blog: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer in possession of an internet connection must be in want of a blog.

Ernest Hemingway’s Blog: The Search Ranking Also Rises; isn’t it pretty to think so?

Virginia Woolf’s Blog: Blogging Among the Vegetables

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Blog: Reaching for the Green Light; blogging as a matter of infinite hope…