Blogging is all about drawing your reader in and making her believe you are speaking directly to her.
How does one accomplish this? With a human voice, of course. Then, how does one accomplish writing with a human voice?
Aaah. There’s the real question and there’s no simple answer.
No one can teach you to be you. But I do have some advice: write a letter to a friend.
Pretend, for a moment, that she’s asked you to explain something to her and, coincidentally, that something happens to be the topic of your next blog entry.
How would you write that letter? What words would you use, what jokes would you tell, how personal would you be?
You have just officially discovered your own personal voice. And sure enough, it will be human.
Once you’ve finished, polish it up and remove any excess.
(That’s the beauty of the web, you can edit before you publish. Don’t be afraid to reword whole sections being ever careful that you don’t edit out your personality.)
When you’re finished, someone reading your words should have the feeling that you are speaking directly to her, not at her, and not through her.
