You have to love language. You have to love communicating in order to succeed.

I noticed a certain pattern in my posts over the last month and a half—writing about the status blogging and then giving (mostly) abstract ideas on how to change. Today I am doing more of the same. A lot of theory. But, I recognize that this approach is going to get old and I want to mix it up a bit. Today, I want to setup a pseudo-series about writing approaches that will grab your audiences attention. Let’s get physical *dances* (I hope that song is in your head). Or rather let’s get concrete.

First off, if you want a brief outline on what my idea of success is then you should read: The Cool Bloggers. So we won’t talk about success. However, we will talk about avoiding failure. In this case, I mean the failure to communicate.

I watched the video blog on ShoeMoney today and, while I generally subscribe to Jeremy’s blog for the poorly constructed sentences, amazing grammar and profanity, today I found his post thought provoking (that was just a little for-funzies poke; I do enjoy his blog). Jeremy says (not necessarily verbatim):

The odds are that most people in this [internet] business will fail. Probably 80-90%.

I agree with Jeremy Shoemaker. Obviously that’s not based on any actual statistic (I don’t think), but I think it’s fair. People who enter internet community expecting an immediate audience, immediate money and immediate success. It’s unfounded expectation. I believe there are two appropriate reactions to Jeremy, especially if we want to find success. One: Screw you ShoeMoney and your poopy, potty-mouth. And two: He makes a good point. I need to make sure I am one of the successful bloggers. I will focus on the second.

My dad is an engineer. A large group of my friends are engineers. When my friends came to my dad for advice about doing their degree he told them you really have to love it, otherwise you won’t succeed. I have an English degree and I don’t like math. I never even bothered. The apple fell far from the tree, in that regard.

There is a false assumption out there that everyone can write. It’s true that the majority of the world is literate and generally capable of putting together sentences, but that is not the same as being able to write or communicate. However, there is no divine gift that enables one person to write and not another. It comes down to whether or not you are passionate about writing and effectively communicating. If you aren’t or don’t believe you can be than the web and it’s community is not going to respond to you. If you cannot connect with a readership than this is not going to work. If you don’t love it, you can’t succeed. That’s what my dad said. That’s what Jeremy Shoemaker says. That’s what I say.

But wait. Don’t give up yet. This isn’t all about doom and gloom. I am not preaching fire and brimstone. I am all about hope. There is hope for me and you. Let’s get better together. I am not going to teach you how to use commas. Grammar is so boring and dry. I barely understand it myself and I still use commas incorrectly—but I am not going to get started on comma-hatred. Plus, other people do it much better than I could (and I know there is more but those are two that I read).

Here’s what I bring to the table. It will be my goal with upcoming posts to inspire you to be passionate about communication. Do you ever get excited by a beautiful semi-colon? I do. And I think I can pass that on to you. Or I am going to try. Plus, I will highlight easy ways to spice up your writing without doing a lot of extra work. This isn’t a scheme, but just taking the time to make small changes to improve the readability and flow of your content.

First off, we had to start with theory. That’s where everything starts. Can you imagine a world where sentence structure, new word combinations and questioning the overall structure of your writing is exciting? It’s worth it.

PS - I will need some writing samples to use for upcoming posts. Anyone want one of your posts critiqued (you can remain anonymous)? Send me an email or leave a comment and I will track you down.

Photo by anonfx