via Chaos Theory: Food for thought.

Original Post
Comments from Chaos Theory
My blatherings in response

1. write every day.
(Or close enough, anyway. Assuming I'm home on the weekends and anyone else is posting on the weekends.)
I'M TRYING, OK GET OFF MY CASE! Sheesh, disappear from the blogosphere for a mere 8 months and all you hear are complaints. The idea.

2. if you think you're a good writer, write twice a day.
I not going to let that stop me from multiple posts. Sorry to disappoint you all

3. don't be afraid to do anything. in fact if you're afraid of something, do it. then do it again. and again.
Superb advice. Now to actually do it

4. cuss like a sailor.
Fuck yes!

5. don't tell your mom, your work, your friends, the people you want to date, or the people you want to work for about your blog. if they find out and you'd rather they didn't read it, ask them nicely to grant you your privacy.
(At this point I don't really...though a few have known in the past. I don't think any of them cared about this site though.
There won't be anything here they haven't already heard straight out of my mouth.

6. have comments. don't be upset if no one writes in your comments for a long time. eventually they'll write in there. if people start acting mean in your comments, ask them to stop, they probably will.
Hell, even comments from wingnuts, freepers and other assorted nutjobs give me a thrill.

7. have an email address clearly displayed on your blog. sometimes people want to tell you that you rock in private.
(Okay, I don't do that one, but I have my reasons for this- random retards used to write me, and I don't want to encourage that behavior. The smart people can actually find where the hell my e-mail is mentioned on this thing and use it if they want, but I don't want to make it easy.)
My email link is in plain view, if you look for it.

8. Don't worry very much about the design of your blog. image is a fakeout.
To a point. But for pity's sake, make it easy for your readers to actually read. No blue on black, please.

9. use Blogger. it's easy, it's free; and because they are owned by Google, your blog will get spidered better, you will show up in more search results, and more people will end up at your blog. besides, all the other blogging software & alternatives pretty much suck.
(I beg to differ. Besides, Blogger tends to cock up a fair amount, or so I see on others' blogs.)
I like Blogger, but I'm cheap and not all that interested in being fancy

10. use spellcheck unless you're completely totally keeping it real. but even then you might want to use it if you think you wrote something really good.
(Actually, I just spell right the first time. I won a spelling bee once. Hee.)
I spel reel goud to, but please USE THE SPELLCHECKER.

11. say exactly what you want to say no matter what it looks like on the screen. then say something else. then keep going. and when you're done, re-read it, and edit it and hit publish and forget about it.
This one is gonna be hard to learn for me. I suffer badly from rewrite-itis, often till the piece is dead and lifeless on the floor.

12. link like crazy. link anyone who links you, link your favorites, link your friends. dont be a prude. linking is what separates bloggers from apes. and especially link if you're trying to prove a point and someone else said it first. it lends credibility even if you're full of shit.
(I have reasons for not sticking a direct "links to everyone" blogroll on this site directly so everyone can find me via their stats. If you post something particularly good, you get a direct link, but I don't do direct "this blog is kewl" sidebar stuff. Go check the bloglines or the nibelung links on the left if you really want to know where to go.)
Learning this one as we speak. Gotta do it all the time. Yes sir. Will do it.Right away. Yess sir.

13. if you haven't written about sex, religion, and politics in a week you're probably playing it too safe, which means you probably fucked up on #5, in which case start a second blog and keep your big mouth shut about it this time.
Do I write about anything else? Well, maybe aliens stalking the halls of Congress but that's politics, religion, AND sex, right?

14. remember: nobody cares which N*synch member you are, what State you are, which Party of Five kid you are, or which Weezer song you are. the second you put one of those things on your blog you need to delete your blog and try out for the marching band. Similarly, nobody gives a shit what the weather is like in your town, nobody wants you to change their cursor into a butterfly, nobody wants to vote on whether your blog is hot or not, and nobody gives a rat ass what song you're listening to. write something Real for you, about you, every day.
(Guilty! (mp3 link there) I even did a weather bitch today! But at least I try to only post funny test results.)
Get a grip. Be silly! Not everything in life is as serious as a case of anal warts. Let us have some fun here. But writing something real everyday is absolutely right.

15. Don't be afraid if you think something has been said before. it has. and better. big whoop. say it anyway using your own words as honestly as you can. just let it out.
This is a major problem for me. I'm always wrestling big time with this one.

16. get Site Meter and make it available for everyone to see. if you're embarrassed that not a lot of people are clicking over to your page, dont be embarrassed by the number, be embarrassed that you actually give a crap about hits to your gay blog. it really is just a blog. and hits really dont mean anything. you want Site Meter, though, to see who is linking you so you can thank them and so you can link them back. Similarly, use Technorati, but don't obsess. write.
(No thanks. I really don't want to know how many people view the site. I know, I'm the only person who doesn't want to know this, but dammit, knowing exactly how many view the place would either make me depressed or give me stage fright, and I LIKE not knowing, thank you.)
I have to agree. I DON'T CARE. I DON"T CARE IF YOU BIG MEANIES ARE READING OR NOT! SO THERE!

17. people like pictures. use them. save them to your own server. or use Blogger's free service. if you dont know how to do it, learn. also get a Buzznet account. several things will happen once you start blogging, one of them is you will learn new things. That's a good thing.
(Okay, now I'm feeling cranky that the picture button isn't working, because I would be posting MORE pictures right NOW instead of responding to this...)
Working on it. Jaysoos, one more damn thing to do....

18. before you hit Save as Draft or Publish Post, select all and copy your masterpiece. you are using a computer and the internet, shit can happen. no need to lose a good post.
AMEN!

19. push the envelope in what you're writing about and how you're saying it. be more and more honest. get to the root of things. start at the root of things and get deeper. dig. think out loud. keep typing. keep going. eventually you'll find a little treasure chest. every time you blog this can happen if you let it.
Check back in six months.

20. change your style. mimic people. write beautiful lies. dream in public. kiss and tell. finger and tell. cry scream fight sing fuck and don't be afraid to be funny. the easiest thing to do is whine when you write. Don't be lazy. audblog at least once a week.
(Er... I don't get what the heck he's talking about for half of these. But I don't audblog here because I tried it while on vacation on another site and people told me they had NO idea what I'd been saying. Apparently I talk too fast. So there won't be audblogs here.)
Most of this is great, standard writing mantra stuff. But I have no interest at all in the concept of audblogs. I blather too much verbally as it is.

21. write open letters. make lists. call people out on their bullshit. lead by example. invent and reinvent yourself. start by writing about what happened to you today. for example today i told a hot girl how wonderfully hot she is.
(Today I went to the gym for a really long time. Fascinating, eh?)
Gee, I have a swell cat. Does that count?

22. when in doubt review something. There's not enough reviews on blogs. review a movie you just saw, a tv show, a cd, a kiss you just got, a restaurant, a hike you just took, anything.
(Always fun.)
Coming soon to a blog near you...Reviews...And the crowd goes wild.

23. constantly write about the town that you live in.
(And once again, I'D BE DOING THAT IF THE DAMN PICTURE BUTTON WAS WORKING RIGHT NOW!)
Oh yes, My Precious, we'll show them, won't we. Teach them to be mean to us, will we, Have they got anything in their pocketses?

24. out yourself. tell your secrets. you can always delete them later.
(Ever hear of web archive and Google cache? I think not.)
HAH! So much as fart on the interthingie and it will echo down the Hall of Ages.

25. Don't use your real name. Don't write about your work unless you don't care about getting fired.
(Well, I don't use my last name on here. My first name is practically Jane Doe in sheer genericness, so who gives a damn. And I don't write about my job here 'cause there wouldn't be much to say.)
I do use my own first name 'cause everyone knows me by my middle name. Thanks Mom and Dad.

26. Don't be afraid to come across as an asswipe. own your asswipeness.
(No problem there.)
I am such a spectacular special asswipe that I revel in the glory of it

27. nobody likes poems. Don't put your poems on your blog. not even if they're incredible. especially if they're incredible. odds are they're not incredible. bad poems are funny sometimes though, so fine, put your dumb poems on there. whatever.
(No need to worry.)
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! Commit wanton versification. It won't make you go blind. Leave poetry everywhere. Revel in it.

28. tell us about your friends.
(Eh, not so much.)
Why, then you'll just want some for yourself.

29. Don't apologize about not blogging. nobody cares. just start blogging again.
(Hee.)
See #1.

30. read tons of blogs and leave nice comments.
(Got that down.)
Another hard one. I'm a lurker. Read LOTS of blogs. Don't leave comments. Imposter syndrome strikes again.