This guest post is by Enzo f. Cesario of Brands flat.
"We were halfway between Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take."
It was certainly not the rule that Rolling Stone from sports and politics columnist Hunter s. Thompson expected. He sent to Vegas to report on a motorcycle race, and instead sent back a manifesto on the hollow glory of Sin City, the assorted joys of half the psychoactive drugs common to the American vocabulary, the shortcomings of the journalistic lifestyle, and of course the death of the American dream. Hard against (okay, slightly past) his term, Thompson resorted to pulling out rambling posts from the pages of his notebook and them in direct mailing. It was unprofessional, it was sophomoric, gonzo was — and it worked. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was a hit.
Opinions vary on just why it worked. I think it was because Thompson uncensored was writing. He wrote openly about issues that still American sensitivities shocked. In the same year that the phrase "war on drugs" would first be devised, he stated boldly the incompetence of the politicians and the police who would be prosecuting. He mused about the death of the ' 60s-style revolutionary zeal, the illusion of a freewheeling city Vegas maintains about an undercurrent of hard-earned decency and so much more. He wrote honestly and not themselves, even the management of comment that the original assignment, to cover the race motorcycle, confused and bored him.
He Had written the same things today, it would have created a series of fantastic blogs.
The world is full of boring, sterile writing. A blog's strength lies in its ability to personal, and her ability to work at any time. Get on, login, pontificate, click send and it is there, ready for the reader. People read blogs for the style for the content a whopping — they want to know how, what, as well as the blogger thinks. They can show up for the content, but they remain for the personality.
Personality is where Gonzo thrives. Asked about the format, Thompson said, "I don't get any satisfaction from the old traditional journalist view:" I had only relates to the story. I gave it a balanced view, ' "and" you can't be objective about Nixon. "
Well, that sounds like political blogging for me. There is nothing wrong with the fair, but sometimes you need to be able to say, "the leading candidate reminds me of the worst qualities of my teachers math and science program — boring, dry, inaccessible and rambling about topics I couldn't care less about while ignoring the ones I was interested in."
So put that style in your blog. You don't have to put in a gin-soaked journey through your chosen topic-in fact, there are very few writers who can actually write well while drunk (Thompson happened if one of them). No, what I am talking about is writing something raw and uncensored.
Let your inner Lion to play, writing part of you that says, "I absolutely don't care what people think about this piece," and go to town. Write hard — presenting your worst advice, the strongest how you feel about things. Not set out to shock, just set out for absolutely honest in a way that people can not fault for soft-pedaling or go easy on the subject.
Secondly, not edit. This may sound like sacrilege to the profession of writing, but it is a good tip if you want to write. The content to the battle, writing in a stream and let your subject go where it wants. Try the first-person story that Gonzo makes this a joy. Sink yourself in the story. What do you think, feel, want out this piece? Get that feeling, these essences down on paper.
Writing can be fairly difficult. "It Is brandable? It Is also different? It will generate traffic? " I'm not going to lie: ask "is it safe?" is a deeply ingrained part of our way of looking at the world, and there is nothing wrong with that. We want certainty, and there are legendary stories of a bizarre and wacky change allowing someone to shoot a good career in the foot, never to be heard of again.
But much more is the story that you never hear, of the person who writes two entries, get discouraged and never made a different word. Or the countless thousands who say "I want a writer, but" and let whatever comes after but to keep them from ever picking up the pen and bring form to their thoughts.
So do. Go nuts this once, write something ecstatic or satirical. The conventions for a little skip and reinventing your writing, just to keep your readers on the edge of their seat. I have news for you: you will not write the following American manifesto, so now that you know that you are free to write a really nice, snappy piece of blogging content that your readers talking.
And maybe you can even do it on a road trip to Barstow.
Enzo f. Cesario is an expert on blogs and social media for business and co-founder of Brands flat, a digital content Agency. Brands flat blogs, videos and social media in the "voice" of our client's brand. For the free Brands flat report go to Brandsplat.com or visit our blog at http://www.ibrandcasting.com.
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