Blogging Tips from Christina Lee

My friend Christina is a brilliant writer. A freelance journalist, she's written for Paste, Washington Examiner, and Washington City Paper. I asked her for some tips for Old People who want to start blogging, and she enthusiastically provided the following:

• Focus on creating the content first, and not the layout. I find that holds a lot of people up when it comes to many types of project when it shouldn't, like Ted Mosby when he was starting his own architecture firm and worrying about the types of pens that he'd use instead of calling clients.
  
• Write how you want to write. By this, you're free to take on whatever tone you'd like -- it's your blog, after all. Some people are more comfortable writing authoritatively, which is great if you're writing a how-to blog. But if you're writing about how your day is going, don't be afraid to write as if you would to your neighbor, your best friend or your husband.
  
  
• Proofread by reading it aloud. I catch 99.99 percent of the spelling and grammatical errors I make this way.
  
• Don't be afraid to get personal. Here's what I mean: If you have personal experience working with a type of gardening tool, say so. If your granddaughter really enjoyed those cookies that you made, take a picture of her eating it, or have her provide a video endorsement. And if you have your own take on, say, a magazine shuttering its print publication, don't be afraid to spill your guts.

You can read Christina's blog here.