This is a guest post by Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn
Many people want to write a book and maybe you're one of them. Perhaps you don't want to write a novel, but these fiction writing techniques can still help you improve your blog.
1. Character
At its core, fiction is about characters and how they live, who they are and what they go through in the course of a book. If a reader doesn't care about the character, why should they bother reading on? The same is true of your blog. If readers don't care about you as the main character, they will go elsewhere. If your content is dry and devoid of personality, people will click away.
You can show character through the use of personal anecdotes about you and your life, either on your blog or through social networks. You can use video or audio to present a more rounded view and incorporate the rich variety of your life to infuse blog with character.
2. Setting
All books have a setting, and so do blogs. In fiction, it might be a faraway planet, ancient Rome or a vampire's lair that give a sense of place. For blogging, the equivalent is your blog design including use of images, color and theme. This will set the tone for your blog or your book and is just as important for either.
A blog on finding true love is unlikely to have a dark, Gothic theme; a sports blog will probably not be pink and fluffy. Setting and blog design influence how the content is perceived before people even start reading so it's critical to consider what people experience when they first arrive at your site.
3. Genre
It's important when writing fiction to consider the genre you are writing in, because the rules and expectations differ widely. Consider romance, science-fiction, and horror. The readers are different. The books sit in different places on bookshelves. It's the same with blogging. You can try to span multiple areas but you will find your message diluted....
