smackfoo.com | I find your lack of faith disturbing.

Lately I’ve noticed a disturbing blogging trend towards writing about endless how-to-blog methodologies, that are full of self-taught ideology (not to mention bad textual formatting and grammatical abuse) rather than based on long-term experience and proven knowledge. I’m reminded of two well written primers on the concept of better writing and understanding your audience, that really do illustrate that concept beautifully.

Few, really, can preach how-to-blog basics and have it (or themselves, for that matter) actually resonate with the reader. It’s an exceedingly rare gift that this author is well prepared to press hand to heart and declare being somewhat less than adept at. It’s an occasionally uncomfortable thing, accepting that there are far better ways than what one can come up with alone, as it’s often far easier to replace the unknown, with assumption.

There is simply nothing quite as bad, as having someone point-blank tell you how to write. Guidance, well-reasoned critique or even a “quiet word” are all well received here, because I (we) all, ultimately, continue to learn (at least until we step one foot into the grave). And I certainly do not want or need what you’re selling, how-to wise, when you don’t actually know, or believe it, yourself.

I know enough, to know that I don’t know nearly enough. The danger is believing that the world (or this very author) needs you to then go ahead and actually prove it.

If a blog has truly amazing content, or an astute author, I care little how that content may be presented. Because if I can read it and, most importantly, digest it — then the job has been well done. Granted, I’m a design junkie — so great design and typeface choice are quite the narcotic. Sometimes enough so, to have you then added to my daily reads. But if you then try to preach a false lesson, this member of the congregation will renounce.

Do elements such as <h3> to break up concepts, bold or italic to emphasise points, or half decent paragraph separation help? You bet. Breaking content up, works. Sometimes. I’ve experimented with it, on occasion. Again, sometimes. Then again, it can just as easily ruin flow and rhythm, when poorly placed (and this author has been just as guilty in the past). It may look great, within your chosen design, but it can easily do truly horrible things to flow, in an XML reader.

If I subscribe to your feed, then I want to actually read what you’ve written. Not because I want to be told how to write and to have my focus pulled every which way by html entity abuse — it happens more often than you might think. I read A List Apart (for example) not because I’m categorically told how to blog, but because the writers provide guidance and wisdom, based on a good deal of experience. And they lead by example.

Keep the message clear, avoid entity bashing and use well formed and written paragraphs, and I’m yours. Tell me how to do that, without practising it yourself, and I’m gone. It’s that simple.