Why Great Writing Does Matter Online
I ought not do it.
That familiar, normally-small voice inside me is screaming, “DON’T DO THIS. YOU’LL JUST PISS HER OFF.”
But I can’t help it.
I’m gonna do it.
Actually, as you can see from the title, I already have done it.
I gotta disagree with one of my favorite Blog Gurus, Skellie.
*ducks*
Whew. That was a close one. just barely missed my head.
That was Angie. No, not the one in the picture. That’s Lilly. Angie is the on that just threw my cell phone across the room. See, she’s a big Skellie fan.
Looks like this post is going to cost me a new cell phone. And a little bit of drywall, too. I’d better try to make it a good one.
Anyways, Skellie had a post a couple of days back about how great writing doesn’t matter on the Internet. While I get where she is going with it, and while I understand the logic of the argument and even agree with some of the sentiment, I wholeheartedly disagree with her conclusions.
How can this be? How can Skellie be wrong about something so big? Her argument is near-flawless, as it usually is. However, this time I think Skellie missed a couple of important details:
- Bad or average writing can so detract from the content that it becomes unusable.
- Bad or average writing can turn a certain portion of the market of readers away.
- Great writing engenders trust and admiration which lead to brand loyalty.
- Great writing adds value to the conversation and to the writer’s own bottom line.
A good percentage of any blog reading population is made up of writers and bloggers. Many of these folks will not only avoid a blog with bad or average writing, but will also fail to recommend that blog to their readers. In many cases, those readers don’t even identify why they don’t like a given blog; they just know that they don’t like it.
The occasional grammatical error or stylistic mistake is acceptable and fully compatible with good writing. Bad writing, which is riddled with poor grammar, incorrect punctuation, misspellings and illogical structure is a pain to read, to skim, or even to try to sift through. Average writing is somewhere in between. Its not riddled with bad stuff, but there is enough that it is noticeable and even distracting.
Skellie suggests that some of the most successful bloggers are average writers. At the end of the day, though, folks like Skellie and Brian Clark and Darren Rowse are not just average writers; they are amazingly good writers. Their writing is top-notch, which is at least partially responsible for their success as bloggers. Would all of their blog writing pass a print publication edit? No. Brian’s maybe, but he makes his errors sometimes, too. Could they all write successfully for print if they wanted to? Absolutely. These folks are just. that. good.
I get that Skellie wants to encourage bloggers who may be discouraged by their mistakes. I agree with that sentiment. But, I don’t tell my daughter “an F in Math isn’t so bad, honey. Most kids aren’t math experts,” and send her on her merry way. Instead I’ll say, “Its a bummer you’re doing so badly in Math. How can I help you to master the material?” The same holds true for Internet writing. I won’t tell you it’s OK if its not OK, but I might offer to lend a hand. To be fair, Skellie has offered that hand over and over and over again.
So, what do you think? Is Skellie right? Are you as likely to read a bad- or average-written blog as you are to read a well-written blog? Are you more likely to subscribe or come back to a well-written blog? If you blog, would you recommend a bad or average blog to your readers?
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20 Responses to “Why Great Writing Does Matter Online”
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Great post! I love the way that you integrated pictures into this.
I’m stumbling this so that it can find a wider audience.
I think fine writing definitely is one element of a great blog. Some of my favorite blogs are photo blogs, however, so it’s not an absolute thing.
I agree with you that Darren Rowse and Brian Clark are outstanding writers, and they also have a very good command of their material and clean, effective blogs that make it easy to learn from them. The combination of a great design and lots of good writing is always a winner, I think.
Those pictures are great! I just found out that you live in Linwood. I grew up in Omer/Standish (actually between Standish, Omer, and Sterling).
Again, I’m so happy I found you.
Lindsey Russell
Just because you really like someone’s blog doesn’t mean they’re never wrong. I see a lot of false information, misleading facts, and awful advice on the Web, but Skellie’s post is wrong on so many levels, it really needed to be called out. She’s human and makes mistakes, just like anyone. But since she is a major blogger and is in a position of leadership, there’s even greater reason to stand up and let her know she’s mistaken.
@ Laura - Thankya! I’ve seen the stumblers all day!
@John - You’re right about photo blogs. Video blogs would fall into that category, as would podcast blogs. But for written blogs, the writing has to be good to be successful.
@Lindsey - Omer, now there’s a town I bet has never been blogged before!
@Melissa - Thank you for stopping in. Like I said, I think I agree with her sentiment, just not her conclusions. One of my main purposes with this blog is to help average writers become good, and help good writers become great. I’m all about encouragement, and I really think that was all Skellie was trying to do.
Excellent comments, everyone!
Bob,
Like you, I disagree with Skellie. While we certainly don’t want to discourage writers whose skills may not yet be well-developed, in my view telling them that mediocre writing is acceptable is not the way to help them. Mediocre writing isn’t the kind that gets noticed. It’s not the kind that brings the reader back again and again. Nor is it the kind that brings a client back to the same writer for more content over and over.
We should instead, I think, let the writer know that mediocre writing makes a writer expendable. If nothing in a particular writer’s style distinguishes him or her from every other writer, why should a client–or a reader for that matter–continue to return to that writer over and over again, rather than seeking another, superior writer?
We definitely want to nurture the innate talent and as-yet-unrealized potential of new, inexperienced, and less-than-sophisticated writers. There’s no question about that. We want to encourage them, build their confidence, and recognize their latent talent and enthusiastic, inspired, yet often-awkward attempts to create a fine piece of writing. But telling them that mediocre writing is fine is not the way to do this.
I believe we should rather help them have faith in their own ability to continually challenge and stretch themselves as writers, gradually improving their skills until the caliber of those skills begins to approach the degree of the raw, natural talent and inspiration that they already possess…until the inner desire for written self-expression that urges them irresistibly forward is finally rewarded by a fine, polished piece of writing that’s every bit as pleasurable to read as it was to write.
Regards,
Jeanne
Hi Bob
I had mixed feelings about her post, which is why I didn’t respond to it there.
I am slightly uncomfortable with her intention, which I think was to provoke discussion and get talked about. (Similar to reaction provoked by her anywired piece on landing pages - which wasn’t based on facts, just opinion, though it wasn’t written that way.)
The headline exaggerates her point, for effect.
Within the piece the argument is more subtle, along the lines of great writing isn’t the most important thing, ideas count, as does clarity.
I’d go quite a long way to agreeing with that. A lot of people stop themselves from blogging because they’re not confident in their writing, think it’s not ‘good enough’.
It’s probably a lot better than they realise. It will improve as they go along. If they’ve got a powerful message, some big ideas, some positive thoughts - I’d say it’s better to communicate than keep them to yourself.
We do respond to things beyond the writing - ideas, emotion, authenticity, heart.
You could say they matter more than ‘great’ writing.
On the other hand bad writing, sloppy writing will undermine all of that. And I think that’s the point that she underplayed.
Joanna
I don’t know what Skellie’s up to with that post. I’m still upset about it a week or so later. I’ve also noticed she’s pulled an ostrich, dropped commenting (or defending herself?) to angry readers and just basically left it.
I think like Joanna does - it was a ploy to get controversy, inbound links (bet she’s liking the PR she’ll get from it) and get people talking about her. Not cool. Not cool at all.
@ Joanna and @ James - Thank you both for stopping in. I’m a big fan of Men with Pens, and have been for a while. And, while I’ve just discovered Confident Writing, I think Joanna is going to be one to watch. You’ve got wonderful ideas there.
At any rate, I agree with what the two of you are saying. Certainly the attention was a part of what Skellie was going for. I get that, too. I don’t agree with it, but it is standard fare out here. I can’t horribly fault her for starting controversy in order to get hits, get inbounds, and start a buzz. I hope I won’t ever do it, but some of the best bloggers have.
Still, the more I read the comments she wrote, I think she really does believe that good writing is not a necessity for blogging success. That is disturbing, more than the hype itself.
I think it is most disturbing to me because, on balance, Skellie has always had a decent perspective. This one is so far off the mark that it throws us for a loop. It would be akin to the archbishop of Detroit saying, “You know what? Contraception isn’t a big deal if you are Catholic.”
Well, to be honest, while great writing may not matter for short-term success, I think it matters a great deal for long-term success. Take a look at the current rumblings going on in the blogosphere - people are sick and tired of crap posts, regurgitated content and typically sub-standard fare.
Also keep in mind that the most popular blogs today aren’t ones with sub-standard writing. True, Skellie noted a technology blog that didn’t have the best grammar going on, but I think that success of that kind is rare and not typical.
And I disagree that Skellie herself believes poor writing is acceptable.
1, she earns her income through writing. Would she do the same if she was a poor writer?
2, she crafts her blog posts rather carefully. If she didn’t think conveying the message properly was important, would she bother?
3, if Skellie started dropping her writing standards, would her blog still be as popular? I doubt it.
She doesn’t come up with newsbreaking ideas or content that truly gives everyone pause for thought. Her good writing saves her ass many a day.
Hey, and thanks for liking our blog. I see yours is relatively new, so I’ll keep an eye on it
@ James - I think you’ve hit it on the head on all points. good form!
Incidentally, today’s post is my take on the whole “crap posts, regurgitated content and typically sub-standard fare” thing going on. Hope you (all) like it.
@ Jeanne - Sorry I missed you on the first go-round!
I like what you’ve said here: “let the writer know that mediocre writing makes a writer expendable.”
We do someone a disservice by telling them it’s all right instead of helping them to improve. At the same time, I’m always hesitant to criticize unless I’m willing to help (if asked).
Bob,
I totally agree! I don’t think it’s our place to criticize unless a writer has asked our opinion–and even then we want to tread softly. (The writer’s ego can be so fragile!)
At the same time, encouraging writers to be the best they can be is something we can do in a positive way–without resorting to criticism. That’s something I always strive to do at Writer’s Notes and is in fact one of the four goals of my blog: to provide information, inspiration, encouragement, and resources to help writers succeed in their craft. (It’s a little different, of course, when a writer asks us for a critique than when we offer unsolicited advice. Yet, we always want to use sensitivity, doing our best to phrase our comments in a positive way.)
While I do believe in lavishing encouragement on writers, I also believe in inspiring them to reach for the sky. I definitely don’t believe we should ever tell them it’s OK to be mediocre…average…blase. (Sorry, Skellie!)
Thanks for your reply to my comment! Glad I discovered your blog!
Cheers!
Jeanne
Good writing is always better than bad writing - it’s just that sometimes bad writing gets more traffic than good writing. An excellent piece about your boots probably won’t get more readers than that poorly written but easily digestable top ten list.
Still, poor writing being more popular than great writing is rare. I can’t think of anyone who would rather read something boring rather than something interesting.
Hi Bob,
I found your blog by doing a Google blog-search for writers named Bob and clicked on your link because of an interesting headline.
I stayed to read more of your articles because I like your writing and your topics.
I’m describing the path that brought me to this comment window today because I’m sure lots of people find and read blogs in the same way I just did. Good writing was not number one on my list of reasons to come to this page–more like number 3 or 4–but it is the biggest reason that I explored more once I got here.
In a nutshell, good writers sound smart.
When I want info, I look for smart people.
Nice blog. Thanks for supporting good writing.
@ Bob - Thanks for dropping in! I hope you come back more often.
At any rate, I get what you’re saying. Good writing doesn’t draw readers in, but it does convince them to stay.
And that’s the thing: Good writing isn’t supposed to bring new readers. That’s the job of social bookmarking, search engines, and marketing in general. Good writing, though, keeps people. It keeps them coming back. It helps to create brand loyalty. In most businesses, one loyal customer is worth four one-time customers. It’s as true with Internet writing as it is anything else.
I dropped by your post via Skelliwag. So that ‘link love’ seems to be (ahem) bi-directional.
I was intentionally surfing for a blog or two that I might add to my blogroll.
Exhale. You made the cut.
Back to the topic: I seldom subscribe at all because the blogs that seem to have really good content don’t seem to add to that content often. But when I do subscribe, it is because the material was interesting and reasonably-well presented.
The writing doesn’t have to be ‘great’ in the sense of Steinbeck or Buck or (fill in the blank). Nor does the thinking have to rival Hume or even Rand. But there has to be some meat in the thinking and some savor to the writing.
I found that here. The writing isn’t great, but it -is- workmanlike. The topic I am commenting on is negatively written … and that is weak writing. But the community commenting on it lifts the piece.
Oddly enough, I was on James & ??? blog a few days ago and wasn’t impressed. But the comment from them posted here is compelling me to take a second look.
I don’t write especially well yet. But effort and practice should go a long way toward developing a personal voice and honing its expression.
Bill
BTW, I use & recommend CommentLuv, too. Good choice!
BillinDetroit’s last blog post..The Fresco At Herculaneum - John Taylor Gatto
@ Bill - Thanks for your thoughts. I think.
Hi Bob,
I thought that Skellie’s post was just dreadful. I wrote a rude comment (no swearing in it, and there was no personal attack it it) which she deleted. I stopped subscribing a couple of day later.
Just one point of Skellie’s that clarity is part of bad writing is enough to show how stupid the whole post was. Maybe it was just an attempt to get a lot of attention. If so I hope the attention led lots of other people to stop reading her too.
If we don’t want to become known as a bunch of scammers and get-rich-quick hucksters we need to care about the quality of what we do. I think the long-term future of blogging depends on this. Writing isn’t the only aspect of quality, but it is certainly part of it.
Evan’s last blog post..Intimacy: how to get more of it
@ Evan - Like James said, I wasn’t sure at first where she was coming from with that one, other than linkbait. She recanted, eventually, and I take her word for it. But, I think it probably hurt her more than it helped her in the long run.
Your point about writing being one aspect of quality is absolutely true. This blog focusses on writing, so that’s the drum I beat day in and day out. Still, I recognize that it’s only one (albeit integral) part of a successful blog.