I must have tried to start a blog about 6 different times. The only time it's worked was when I started the Liberation BC blog.
One of the hardest parts about starting a blog, I've found, is writing the first post.
So, now that I've written half a dozen first blog posts, here's some advice for those of you who are thinking about starting a blog but don't know how to start.
1. Think about what you want your blog to be. Is it going to be a personal blog? A blog for your organization or company? Are you going to blog about a certain topic or on a theme?
2. What platform do you want to use? The real question here I guess is how technically inclined are you? Are you comfortable installing blogging software on your own server and editing a configuration file? Or do you just want to click a few buttons and fill out a form? Wordpress is a nice system that you can use for free as a hosted blog, or you can download the software and set it up on your own server for free as well (plus the cost of web hosting). This is a complicated choice - sort of.
I'd suggest just avoiding the whole technical issue to begin with and set up a hosted wordpress blog. Don't worry about all that technical stuff now – you can always move your content later.
3. Stop worrying about what you are going to write about. No one is going to read the first posts anyway, so it doesn't really matter if they are completely on-topic of if they are very well written. Do try, but don't sweat it. Your voice will develop as you write more. Plus, if you hate something you've written, you can pretty much always go back and delete it.
Try not to write anything that's going to embarrass yourself, but do jump in and write something.
4. Try to stick to a schedule (once per week, twice a month, every other Wednesday). Build up the discipline of sitting down and writing. If you can't think of something to write about and it's time to write, just choose something. Brainstorm for 10 minutes about all the things you could write about and then just pick one.
At the beginning it's more important that you write, and write regularly, than it is that you write perfectly. What is important is finding your voice and getting steadily better at writing.
5. Have fun. If blogging feels like work every time you sit down to write maybe you should be doing something else. Get out the video camera and do a video blog. Mayb e you like to take pictures and just want to do a photo blog? Maybe you don't want to blog at all and your time would be better used writing letters or calling people?
That's about it. Just get started and have a good time doing it.
