I checked my followers. 99! When it hits 100, we should celebrate. A measly 100 sounds pitiful when compared to other writing blogs, but to me it sounds like 100 different ways to build my audience. Notice, though that it isn’t enough to gather followers. I must consistently offer a high-quality post. The more followers and other readers I gain, the heavier the responsibility. Writing Tip for Today: Yes, this platform business does come with added responsibilities. When I had three followers (one of them me) I could say, “I don’t feel like posting today.” No one noticed. Now, I feel the heat. Much like a story, my blog is a promise to the readers to regularly update and provide quality content. If you are blogging or wondering how to get your blog launched, these tips may help:

• Keep it Short. I try not to go over a page or two, and as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I try to do bulleted lists that have titles. Short posts are a good way to invite the reader back–they know you aren’t going to waste their time muddling through a long winded post.
• Keep it Focused. Decide what you want your blog to be predominantly about and what audience you’re targeting. You may even decide to make separate blogs for books, reviews or other content. I stayed with teaching writing because that’s what I do in life and also because when I was starting out, I would’ve loved to know some of this stuff.
• Keep it Fresh. Use the pre-posting feature if you need to, but post on a regular basis. On Blogger, you can set your post to publish at a specified time and date. Invite other bloggers to guest post and offer to guest post on other blogs. Set up your blog to automatically repost on Facebook and Twitter. Make a Google search for your blog’s title. These are only a few hints on blogging regularly without creating a time-suck. We have to preserve our time for writing, after all.