It’s Monday and Dr. Tanya is back with her weekly Blogging Insights prompt. She provides us with a quote about blogging or writing and asks us to express our opinion about said quote.
“The only truly universal writing advice is ‘If it works, it works.’”
Author and blogger Audrey Driscoll
You can’t argue with the statement, “If it works, it works.” Duh. And if it doesn’t work, unplug it, wait 30 seconds, plug it back in, and see if it works, then. If not, call your local Maytag repairman.
But what about in the context of writing or blogging? Well, let’s start by asking “works for who?” The writer? The reader? Have you ever written a post and thought to yourself that you’ve just created something really special and once you publish it, people are going to read it, like it, and comment on it like nothing else you’ve ever written? Wow, you think, this really worked. This post is going to go viral, for sure.
Then nada. It bombed. Few views, fewer likes, and even fewer comments. It may have worked for you, but it obviously didn’t work for your readers. And isn’t writing something that works for your readers what blogging is all about?
Except for those of you who claim that you write only for yourself and you don’t really care about whether or not it works for your readers. In that case, all I can say to you, if that works for you, it works…but only for you.
This, That, and the Other 
I do write for myself but I think it is cathartic for me. However I love to do it and it’s fun especially trying new forms of poetry, etc. But I don’t write to please if that’s what you mean.
Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
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No, what I mean is that most bloggers, while writing because they love to do it, also appreciate having others read and enjoy their work. That is the icing on the cake.
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“That is the icing on the cake.” That is a good way to put it. …….
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I think writing for both is best. I mean because I write reviews I use my own ratings when I want to assess if products are worth buying, so sometimes remind myself of old scores if deciding whether to buy a product. That said I do want the resource to be effective for others too.
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It has happened to me several times. And the reverse too. A post written in few minutes and with no explanations can have lots more views than the carefully worded and written post.
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Very entertaining and candid .
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Thanks for the mention, but that ringing declaration was something I quoted in a blog post in 2021. Thus: I’ll finish with something from one of the advice-givers in response to a cranky comment on one such post: “The only truly universal writing advice is ‘If it works, it works.’” Note the double quote marks.
But I do admit to being a questioner of some of the “rules” and advice handed out to writers!
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