Blogging Under the Influence: How a glass of wine (or 2) can make you a better blogger.
(creative commons image courtesy of slack 12)
One of the great benefits of attending Blog World Expo 2008 was all of the great advice and inspiration I got that will help me to keep on blogging.
Hands down, my favorite blogging advice was dispensed by Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week:
Talk to your readers the way you would talk to your friends after 2 drinks.
This makes perfect sense to me, and here’s why:
What happens when you sit down with some friends and have a couple drinks?
You start to get that relaxed, warm fuzzy feeling.
You start to loosen your inhibitions.
Your enthusiasm starts to bubble up to the top and affects what you say.
As people who blog, we all have something to say. The question is, What’s the best way to say it? And how do we write a really good post without letting all of our little insecurities and doubts get in the way? And the answer is, blog like you’re buzzed!
I think the 2-drink rule is brilliant, and I’ve already started to implement it. And what’s more, Tim Ferriss actually wrote his entire book with that rule in mind. Did I mention that it’s a New York Times bestseller?
If 2 drinks are good, wouldn’t 3 or 4 or 5 drinks be even better?
Easy now, I don’t want to encourage any lush-like behavior. At three drinks you start to take that turn where warm and fuzzy becomes silly and sloppy, and bubbly enthusiasm can turn into incoherence and long-windedness. Which is fine if you’re at the bar, or a party, or even sitting at home watching House and tweeting - Goodness, who would do that? ; ) - It’s probably just not good for your blog.
And obviously the 2 drink rule would need to be adjusted to fit your weight and tolerance. If you weigh 98 pounds, a scant glass of sherry might do it for you, but if you’re > 200 pounds, you might be halfway into a six-pack before you start getting the warm fuzzies.
And remeber, we juSt pretending we had two drinks, right? Not like we drink so much we forgette how to type an spell. And maibee even fall off out of the chair wile we are blogging.
*hiccup*
I see you later. guys,. Got t0 go take nAp.
o_O
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Great advice. I like it.
Joanne — September 25, 2008 @ 11:47 am
I think I’ve done some of my best writing, blogging or otherwise, with a bit of a buzz on. Back in nursing school, I even wrote a term paper on alcoholic liver disesase in two sittings at the bar! Hah.
Great advice, though, although I think sometimes replying to comments is best done sober.
PMRN — September 26, 2008 @ 2:12 pm
Thanks for the advice.
I’m still learning and developing my ‘niche’ and my ‘voice’, so I’ll give the 2 drink rule a try.
Strong One — September 27, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
After attending BlogWorld Expo, I’ve passed along the “2 Drink Minimum” rule to a few people. Ferriss had a lot of great information in the form of bite-sized quotes during that keynote. But if you’re working a 4 Hour Workweek, what else would expect besides brief and concise. Although I think it was a long week for Tim, he was sitting behind me in a session around 4:00 PM, so he was way over four hours in ONE DAY at that point, unless he spent four hours at a casino after the keynote. I’m the guy you captured with some awful posture shaking hands with Shinoda on your other post.
larzini — October 13, 2008 @ 10:34 pm