Part 2
Part 3
Instruct
I'm going to jump out of order from what I originally presented on the final two ingredients of what I see as a good blog.
When we think of the word Instruct, we often jump to a "how to" explanation that includes a several step process. This seems to be a valid approach in some blogging situations. This philosophy could easily be labeled my personal view of the key steps to having a good blog.
My friend Caleb did a "how to" of sorts on creating a banner for your blog. I can't help but think it was fairly insightful as within the following week several Unusual Soldiers readers had banners on their site (I am one of them).
Yet, it's important to remember that a significant voice against the "5-step approach" has risen up, especially when it comes to "life instructions"...
5 Ways to Divorce-Proof your Marriage...
6 Disciplines that make you a great Christian...
3 Steps to a better you...
It makes sense, doesn't it? The "5 step" approach seems very fix-it, and tends to leave out emotion, uniqueness, mystery, and adventure.
Personally, I gain and learn much through watching peoples' lives or listening to their stories. You'll often here me say:
"I was watching _________, and..."
"I was listening to_________and..."
"_________ told me about__________, and.."
That's the beauty of a blog... through allowing people into (INVITE) your observations and life experiences (INFORM)... you have an opportunity to instruct.
As I share about my views on High School prom and Spring Break, I have the opportunity to instruct parents and fellow youth workers on how to approach these events with a Christ-Focused mentality.
As I share about blogs I've been reading, it's a strange sort of instruction on how to find those blogs. As I share why I read them, I'm instructing people on what to look for.
I'm not a fan of the "information automatically brings transformation" mentality...
Sit here and listen, read this, memorize this, take a test over this, and then move on.
Very little "sticks". The learner needs to interact with the information. This is the ultimate trick to the blog. The reader can click and go to the blog, and only read the first paragraph (the fact is the majority of those who started reading this post will not get to this statement). He/she may not click on the crucial link or video that brings your point across.
To truly instruct, the reader must interact with the topic... internalize the post; take time to do something with what has been read or watched. To me, this is the ultimate goal of the blog... to INSPIRE those who've read to do something...
When we think of the word Instruct, we often jump to a "how to" explanation that includes a several step process. This seems to be a valid approach in some blogging situations. This philosophy could easily be labeled my personal view of the key steps to having a good blog.
My friend Caleb did a "how to" of sorts on creating a banner for your blog. I can't help but think it was fairly insightful as within the following week several Unusual Soldiers readers had banners on their site (I am one of them).
Yet, it's important to remember that a significant voice against the "5-step approach" has risen up, especially when it comes to "life instructions"...
5 Ways to Divorce-Proof your Marriage...
6 Disciplines that make you a great Christian...
3 Steps to a better you...
It makes sense, doesn't it? The "5 step" approach seems very fix-it, and tends to leave out emotion, uniqueness, mystery, and adventure.
Personally, I gain and learn much through watching peoples' lives or listening to their stories. You'll often here me say:
"I was watching _________, and..."
"I was listening to_________and..."
"_________ told me about__________, and.."
That's the beauty of a blog... through allowing people into (INVITE) your observations and life experiences (INFORM)... you have an opportunity to instruct.
As I share about my views on High School prom and Spring Break, I have the opportunity to instruct parents and fellow youth workers on how to approach these events with a Christ-Focused mentality.
As I share about blogs I've been reading, it's a strange sort of instruction on how to find those blogs. As I share why I read them, I'm instructing people on what to look for.
I'm not a fan of the "information automatically brings transformation" mentality...
Sit here and listen, read this, memorize this, take a test over this, and then move on.
Very little "sticks". The learner needs to interact with the information. This is the ultimate trick to the blog. The reader can click and go to the blog, and only read the first paragraph (the fact is the majority of those who started reading this post will not get to this statement). He/she may not click on the crucial link or video that brings your point across.
To truly instruct, the reader must interact with the topic... internalize the post; take time to do something with what has been read or watched. To me, this is the ultimate goal of the blog... to INSPIRE those who've read to do something...
1 comment:
Hey, I'm not a blogger yet, so I think this post will be anonymous (but I'm Dave Cramer, so now it's not).
Would it be a compliment or an insult to say that this is some of the most creative, original, insightful, and articulate work of yours I have read/heard?
I hope you take it as a compliment. That's how it's intended.
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