How to Blog (In Case You Were Wondering)
By (amateur blogger) Kelly Kinas ‘16
You’re reading this because you probably saw this is on Facebook shared by me or posted originally on Trojans 360. This is a blog (and the sky is blue). I was one of the co-founders of this blog for USC Communications and the University itself. I had no idea what I was doing at that point. I had a lot of opinions. I had a tumblr blog of my own for 4 years but it was mostly for reblogging harry potter gifs.
Blogging isn’t easy; I won’t say that. But it is interesting, fun, and can be taught if you want to blog.
I have some tips and websites for you all if you want to blog! And you should! It’s super fun!
1. What do you want to write about?
You do need a topic! You hear all the time that people are “food bloggers” or “lifestyle bloggers” or “bloggers about life at USC” (hehe) but you do need to figure what you would want to blog about. What are you passionate about? What do you have opinions about? What can you research and think that you can help other people by talking about it? There are so many options. Maybe you enjoy criticizing B horror movies? You can totally blog about it. It’s about you and what you want to talk about.
2. Your Title
It can be informative (Jane’s Movie Blog), a little fun (Trojans 360), or super fun and quirky (find something to relates to your last name idk). It should a little catchy but the most important thing is that it tells the user what you are going to talk about. Puns are great. I highly suggest using a pun.
3. The Actual Content
My advice is to start off small. Write concise blogs that get across your opinion. Back it up with evidence. You don’t need to become an investigative journalist but if that’s your thing, go ahead! Just because you’re blogging doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want and lie about things to get attention. Show your sources. ALSO: Split up the content with photos or gifs. It makes it more interesting and allows the readers a couple seconds of break before moving on to the next paragraph.
4. Time
Blogging isn’t the biggest time commitment if you’re just writing for yourself. It is a commitment though. I would suggest posting twice a week or, at least once a week, so when you start getting a following, they stay engaged.
WEBSITES TO BUILD A BLOG ON:
Both are free and give you a specific domain name. Mine are kellykinas.tumblr.com and kellykinas.wordpress.com. Exciting, right?
You now have the tools and all you have to do is write. Write about your USC experience. Write about your life. Write about anything!
Fight on!
Want more from Trojans 360?
Visit Trojans 360 on Facebook & Twitter to stay up to date with more student content!
Check out our Instagram, where we feature a week in the life of a USC student each week!
Trojans 360 is USC’s official student-run blog. Content created by students, for students.
