| I have a few tips that are universal to any diary you write, no matter what you are saying:
1. Put your introduction in the "Main Text" box and the body of your diary in the "Extended Text." In your intro, tell what you are going to say. In the body, say it.
2. People come to blogs to connect with other people. Try to make your writing reflect you as a person. Tell how an issue affects your own life, don't just report the facts.
3. Do not quote an entire newspaper article. Link to it, maybe quote a few key paragraphs, and provide your analysis or commentary on it.
4. Back up your facts by linking to your sources. One advantage - and disadvantage - of blogs is that you are fact checked immediately by your readers. If you back up your sources with links, then people will have a harder time proving you wrong.
5. Make reading your diary easy for people. Provide links, headers, bulleted lists, whatever you can do to make reading your diary easy. For the same reason, keep your paragraphs short and do not underline too much text (i.e. entire paragraphs at a time).
6. Don't make your diary too short. If all you have to say can be said in a few sentences, don't post a diary. Post it in a comment where appropriate.
Diaries tend to fall into several categories. I'll describe a few below, to give the newbies here some ideas about what to write about and how to go about it.
The Snark
Often people write satirical diaries. I'm not very good at this, and the few times I've tried it have been total flops. A favorite example of a snark is here: Obama Talks Him Some Serious White. This diary was posted after Nader said Obama was talking "white."
Russ Feingold, talking Jewish as we all know he does, responds:
"Oy vey! Dat vas not a kosher ting to say, vat da man named Nader said. I'm so mushuganuh wit dis Nader dat I may hav to eat a box a Matzoh wit an egg cream. Oy!"
Dianne Feinstein, talking woman as she damn well should, defends Obama as well:
"I know, from the bottom of my vagina to the tips of my breasts, that Barack Obama speaks from his heart and being a compassionate, soulful female I know full-well what a heart is.
If I wasn't here, in my kitchen, baking a cake and emotionally and compassionately raising children... I'd go and give Senator Obama a long meaningful hug."
The Rant
When you've had enough and you just can't take it anymore, you write a rant. In some cases, they are helpful as they get attention to an issue, educate readers about it, and also share the appropriate amount of anger (which readers would hardly ever hear expressed in the mainstream media).
For example, if global warming doesn't make you mad enough to use the F-word, it should. But the news just whitewashes over it - and in some case greenwashes over it too. If you hear a news report telling people that they can stop global warming by changing their lightbulbs and it is just the last straw, it might be time for a good rant.
The News
Definitely, definitely share any news story you hear that you think others should know about. But don't just stop by saying "Reuters reported about community gardens. Here's the link." Tell us more!
Give us your own commentary and observations. If the news story neglected to say that a study was funded by Coca-Cola or it was written with a pro-Monsanto bias, tell your readers that! If the story says that people on food stamps are struggling with high food prices, tell us about the family you know who is on food stamps and how they are coping with the prices. When you add value to the story itself, people will be glad they read your account of the news, and not just the newspaper article alone.
The Teaching Diary
I hope to see a lot of teaching diaries on this site. If you are an expert in something - anything - then you can share your skills with the community. Whether you know how to make a compost pile, start a farmers' market, raise chickens, lobby Congress, bake a souffle... anything... we're interested in learning about it from you. And, if appropriate, please include pictures!
The Meta Diary
This diary is a meta diary. It's a diary about diaries. I'm blogging about blogging. That's meta.
The GBCW
The GBCW - Goodbye Cruel World - is an overly vain goodbye a blogger says to a blog community (usually one that he or she is mad at or feels wronged by). There are very few occasions in which a GBCW diary is a good idea.
The Action Alert
If you need a lot of people to take action on an issue, write a diary. Typically the action you're looking for would be calling/emailing Congress, writing letters to the editor, giving money, or commenting in the federal register. Tell us what the issue is, why it is so important we need to get off our butts and do something about it, and what specifically you want us to do.
If you want us to call someone, please include the phone number. If you want us to email someone, include the email address. If we're focusing on a specific committee in Congress, tell us who is on the committee. The easier you make it to take action, the more people will take the action.
Miscellaneous
Other good topics to write a diary about are events (either in the future, if it's an invitation, or in the past, if you want to tell us about it), book reviews, and general non-ranting commentary. On this particular blog, it would also be incredibly cool if you tell us about organizations, farms, gardens, stores, restaurants, or people who are doing something cool that has to do with food. |
