Sandra Lee from Always Well Within, wrote a post “Has Blogging Murdered Eloquence and Elegance?” that inspired my article today. I wanted to write about something that’s been bothering me but didn’t have enough to add, until I found Sandra’s article.

Sandra asked her readers some interesting questions regarding their writing styles. I have listed them below, but would urge you to read her detailed post.

1). Have you altered you writing style as a blogger?  Where do you draw the line?
Have you simplified your writing style?

2). Do you use formulaic headlines?  If not, how do you write effective headlines?
For example: 10 easy ways to get organized today.

3). Which words turn you in the opposite direction?
Sandra mentions words such as awesome, killer, kick-ass, dude.

4). What do you think about the use of swear words and vulgarity in blog posts?

My response to several of her excellent questions and points is: Who is your audience?
If you’re appealing to a young crowd of 20-30, your writing needs to relate to them. Since I cannot write like twenty-somethings speak, (half the time I don’t understand my own sons,) they are probably not my audience.

I added two of my own questions below.

5). Has blogging improved your writing skills? We all put more time and effort into writing and editing our blog posts than we would in an e-mail to a friend. My problem is I speak French and Danish, and notice after I’ve read or spoken French, my sentence structure is incorrect in English. (How do you like my excuse?)

6). Have you ever left a comment on someone’s blog you regretted after you clicked submit?
When I’m in a hurry or over-tired, I have commented without thinking before I hit submit.

This happened to me the other day on another excellent guest post, “5 Steps to Captivating Readers With Your Secret Message,” by Carol Tice on Copyblogger. Copyblogger is huge, the Guardian named it one of the world’s 50 most powerful blogs.) And this is what I wrote:

“I don’t have a secret message. I want my readers to share their opinions and encourage them to be open. I love cross-cultural comparisons from around the world regarding topics that we can all relate to in one way or another. Thanks for asking.”

After you read “5 Steps to Captivating Readers With Your Secret Message” you realize I did not pay attention to the article’s main focus. It was about how our writing is an opportunity to tell readers what we’re about; to convey our personality, passions, expertise, and attitude.

I realized my stupidity, or shall we say, “misinterpretation” and tried to redeem myself by writing a second comment in the Reply section, to myself (like the world cares!)

“I hope to be authentic in a Gutsy way, that inspires viewers to think about everyday issues in unusual ways.”

Please hop over to Sandra Lee’s “Has Blogging Murdered Eloquence and Elegance?” and Carol Tice’s article on Copyblogger’s  “5 Steps to Captivating Readers With Your Secret Message” to help with your writing and content.

Please share anything you care to about your writing and commenting experiences.