When you visit someone's blog, what makes you decide to return or, still better, become a regular visitor? Is it the quality of the writing? The useful information? The relevance to your own writing? All of the above?

I've been blogging regularly since the beginning of May as part of my participation in the online Blog Book Tours class, and I'm still honing in on what I want the blog to be. There are more than enough blogs on how to write and how to get published, so I don't want to make that my focus. On the other hand, how much do people really care about my personal history and random musings?

I'd love to hear from you, either here or in comments on my blog. Who knows, I may even quote you in my next post - with your permission, of course.

Julie Lomoe
Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso

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For me it's the quality of the writing, and how interesting the posts are to me. Usually they're writing related, but I read a few blogs that are fairly political, so long as they're well-written, educational, and informative. Occasional glimpses into a personal life are okay, but I don't read blogs just to see what someone I know only through their blog is up to. I don't read a blog if I want to stay current with mundane day-to-day activities; I have my life for that.
Same here. And if the blog doesn't have something interesting to say regularly and frequently, I tend to lose interest. I should say that I visit few blogs. And I find it unnecessary for the blogger to construct long, detailed, polished essays. It's more important to make a point or share an insight.
Personally, I try to construct "polished essays," even if not long and detailed. My goal is to create an online persona as a good writer, so short tidbits don't really do the job. I've been accused of posting at excessive length, so that's something I'm keeping in mind.

Julie Lomoe
Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso
Thanks for the feedback, Dana. I agree about the writing quality. OK if I quote you on my blog this afternoon? I haven't written it yet. "Mundane day-to-day activities" sounds more like FaceBook, where people post more than I need to know - it's possible to be mind-numbingly dull in even a few words, when it's something like "Jeez, I could really go for an iced coffee now."
Feel free to quote me, Julie. You're right about Facebook,but there some blogs that aren't much more than diaries. "Today we went to a cool concert and Jimmy..." Those I can live without, though I must confess there will be a few anecdotes appearing on one of my blogs to commemmorate my daughter's high school graduation.

Damn parents.
I think the main draw for any good blog is the wit, style, and knowledge the blogger puts into their work. Humor is also catchy. Frankly, for me, it could be over almost any subject (I draw the line at Romance novels and fly-fishing), but other than that, my interests are in how you put the words together. And if the personality behind your words is open for dialogue.
Great response - I like the "open for dialogue" part in particular. The trouble is, the dialogue can eat up your whole day - I haven't resolved that one yet. But hey, it's fun in the meantime.
I prefer blogs that tend to be about something that I'm interested in, and in my own blog I try to be of interest to others.

That's why I blog about something I know about, the business side of show biz, and try to be as witty and informative as I can be. Because I can't deliver exclusive scoops, I can only analyze the business news and try to explain it as clearly and as entertainingly as I can for people.
I return if they suggest good mystery books I might not have heard of otherwise.
Good for you - we need more readers like you. Sometimes it seems these blogs are just about writers talking to each other.

Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso
In blogs I like...

1) News/gossip, either about the field or something I'm a fan of. (That may the writer of the blog, but doesn't have to be.)

2) Humor. I like to laugh.

3) Morbid curiosity. There are some author blogs I read, one in particular, because the author just astounds me with her air of "I'm going to tell you everything about my life because I'm sure everybody wants to know."

4) Writing about ME! I have Google alerts set to send me to any mentions of my books.
Thanks, Toni. I'd love to quote you in my blog, and then Google will send you an alert! (I'll have to learn how to do this too.)

Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso

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