One of the most challenging things in writing is grabbing the attention of your readers. Evan from We The Teens goes over the importance of that one “attention grabbing” sentence and how to make one by just adding a little personality in your writing.
What’s a writing personality have to do with your blog? The answer, more than you know!
I think we can all agree that an interesting post full of factual content, opinions, and honest remarks are the best posts. Those things are all good, but they’re nothing without a good writing technique. You need a way to get your readers hooked.
Now, I don’t mean enlarge the first sentence of your post to size 24 font; that would be a little too much! Besides getting your readers hooked, you want to make sure they stay focus and interested on your post. Here are a few techniques I use. Hopefully they will inspire you to acquire a better writing personality, if you don’t already have one! 
Getting Your Readers Hooked
Before I go into the idea on getting your readers hooked, let me first explain the idea of the “hook”. The hook is usually one of the first sentences or ideas of your post that attracts attention of the reader. There are lots of successful different types of hooks. Some of these include:
- Asking a question
- Sharing a personal experience
- Using a quotation that connects to your post
- Sharing an interesting statistic related to your post
There are lots of “hooking” techniques however, these are the ones that I use and see the most.
Keeping Your Readers Hooked
This is where a writer’s personality really shows through. Don’t make your post boring. Copying and paraphrasing information from other sources will get you nowhere. You need to add your own little something to keep your readers hooked. Throughout your blog post make sure you add your own opinions, and maybe share some thoughts here and there! If you share your thoughts, this gives your readers a chance to agree or disagree with you and share their own thoughts on the topic also.
A blog post is not an essay, don’t be afraid to spice it up a little! Use descriptive adjectives, give your honest opinions, ask questions your readers can answer; anything that will keep your readers focused!
Use Proper Grammar!
Proper grammar is no doubt a must for a blogger. You don’t want your readers to think you don’t know how to write. I read countless blogs where the author frequently misspells common words and uses no form of punctuation. There are question marks, periods, commas, and exclamation points for a reason, use them! I personally run every post of mine through spell check before publishing; it is an invaluable tool.
Being “Feedback Worthy”
It’s no secret, readers are an enormous part of the success of your blog. Before posting, make sure that the content and arguments you presented are feedback worthy. Uh oh, another one of my inventive terms? I think so!
A common goal bloggers share is to create a community among their blog. This isn’t possible when they content posted is not feedback worthy, meaning that your posts are difficult to respond too. For example:
“Teenagers’ lives are interesting.”
Even though this is considered an argument, it is extremely boring. Add a little something more to it.
“Living the teen life is nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. There are always those ups and downs that are continuously affecting how teenagers feel. Being a teenager myself, I know how unpredictable teens’ lives are.”
I feel this is a good little example on just what a clear and concise argument is. This gives your readers a chance to say something like, “Hey, I know just what you mean! There’s always something unexpected around every corner.”
Final Thoughts
Write as if you’re actually talking to your readers. This helps to make your flow better and it gives readers an insight on what type of writer you really are.
Make your posts fun and likeable, while at the same time factual and interesting! Make the post your own!
Before let me ask this. What are your techniques for writing an interesting, fun, and factual blog post that keeps your readers hooked?
The Discussion
Leave a Comment Read Again?Truly awesome article Evan!
You bring up some really good points in your post. Getting readers “hooked” is something you HAVE to do, because a high percentage of people don’t even look at your content. So you have to think of a way to get those who do actually start reading it drawn in so they finish up the whole article. Not easy to do, but hopefully by following your suggestions it can be a bit easier.
Thanks again Evan, really hope to see more quality content from you!
Your right Alex, not easy to do at all! Surprisingly I learned the full use of this technique from my 5th-8th grade teacher. She was always making us write essays and never stopped stopped stressing the importance of “the hook”. Go figure!
This is just one of many posts to come!
Evan’s last blog post..Teens and Good Friends
Woah there’s something I can directly relate to :O
Some of the tips – I share here, come directly what I learned in my schooling years. It’s just amazing how the simple things, when done right – can never go wrong!
Good stuff Evan.
I have always preferred the fun teen approach to the normal, formal and boring informative stuff a lot of blogs use.
Sure, be smart and informative in your post but actually make it more fun. Keeps your readers interested and keeps them coming back to the blog!
Just gotta stay interesting and keep making new and fun stuff!
WPThemeKid – Daniel’s last blog post..Photoshop Image Editing – Pimples
Exactly my point, Daniel! I like to use the phrase “keeping it real” when I think of my blog posts because yes they’re informational, but they also include some really cool information, are easy to follow, and I tend to say exactly what’s on my mind!
Evan’s last blog post..Back to the Basics
Nice work Evan. Great tips shared. Thankyou
Ali Hussain’s last blog post..What Is Blogger’s Block
No problem man! Glad to share my thoughts.
Evan’s last blog post..Back to the Basics
Awesome Post Evan!
Your points on getting/keeping your readers hooked – is one that needs to be explored more deeply by every single blogger out there!
It’s not about writing amazing content and just throwing it out there. You have to connect with your readers, one way or another and create a community of inquiry (least to say) that raises discussions and involve the readers.
Your points just compliment each other so well ~ I can’t wait for your next installment here @ Blogussion
Your right! I hope this gets people thinking about how they can better relate to their audience!
Expect more things to come!
Evan’s last blog post..Back to the Basics
I just wrote a similar post on OW and what you say is correct! If you don’t include enough of your personality in your posts, people will get bored, fast. The introduction to your post can be one of the most important parts in getting people to read your content, so developing good “hooks” is pretty essential.
Corey Freeman’s last blog post..Q/A: What Do You Want to Learn About Writing?
Exactly, I’ve always been tought that the introductory statement/paragraph is crucial if you want to keep your readers interested!
Evan’s last blog post..Back to the Basics
Some great points here! The Spell Check one is a must IMO. I have it built into FireFox so I constantly correct errors while I’m typing. To me, it’s stupid and there’s no excuse to write a post with lazy errors, that you’re expecting someone to spend time reading.
Sharing personal stories is kind of fun and people like reading about that stuff. It does add personality to the blog because you’re learning about the writer.
Overall I think any writing your do needs to be bright and easy to read.
Thanks for sharing these! It helps me alot:)
Regards
Clinton Skakun
Clinton Skakun’s last blog post..Every great invention is incomplete without misconceptions…
Your welcome! I might consider just downloading firefox just because it has the automatic spell checker so I don’t have to run it through Word everytime. However, all the time I’m hearing about compatibilty issues with firefox.
Evan’s last blog post..Back to the Basics
I use it all the time and I don’t have any problems with it besides the the themes(FF themes don’t always work well with my system colors). The spell checker is great. You usually need to download the add-on(correcting my self, I said built in before). What ever browser you’re using you should be able to install an add-on that will do the same. I think IE has one also but I’m not too sure.
Clinton Skakun’s last blog post..Every great invention is incomplete without misconceptions…
Looks IE does! Didn’t even know about this until you told me haha. Thanks!
Evan’s last blog post..Back to the Basics
NP glad to help:)
Clinton Skakun’s last blog post..Every great invention is incomplete without misconceptions…
Eww, you use IE? I thought you were better than that Evan! :p
I will have to work on my topic sentences to draw in more readers. I know my voice and grammar is not the greatest – i blog because i want to become a better writer and right now i am a terrible writer. And i don’t care who knows it.
Online Marketing Blog’s last blog post..Great SEO Quiz
It’s really easy when you get the hang of it!
Just keep writing!
Evan’s last blog post..Back to the Basics
Trust me, once you get the hang of it it’s real easy. Just keep writing!
Evan’s last blog post..Back to the Basics
thanks for the tip !
dinu’s last blog post..Google’s Secret : GDrive
No problem man, glad I could help!
Evan,
Nice work bro, if folks can get a handle of those areas, they’ll be well on their way. Story telling is an effective way to capture ones attention, among other neat things stories are capable of doing. Oh and like you already said, grammar helps.
Keep it up bro.
-Mig
Miguel’s last blog post..Manage Your Life Using Web Notes
Thanks! Story telling is my bread and butter because I feel that if you put your own thought and meaning into a post it interests the reader more.
I can’t believe I forgot to mention this myself;
But, Evan you have a good writing “personality” and it takes someone that has it – to even try and explain it
I just wanted to say that Alex and I are grateful that you are a part of our community
Wow thank you! I really appreciate that!
Hey you have been writing great articles now.. i am amazed to see how you collect all this stuff and present in a great way to the customers.. totally rocking.. hope to read great great articles in future from you
Glad to see you think the post is good!
I like this post. It’s simple and clear.
As far as my writing personality–I usually write with faces or a group of specific people in mind. It seems to anchor my thoughts and my “voice,” makes it easier to keep it relevant and down to earth, but I still have a lot to learn about this whole internet life.
I’m not a teenager. Are adults allowed on this blog?
Seriously.
MizJAI’s last blog post..A life of faith, a life of focus
I too have a lot to learn about the internet life, however, since writing is a secret passion of mine, it makes getting used to things a lot easier!
Even though I’m just a just a HUGE fan of this blog and a guest poster, I would just like to say that of course adults are allowed here!
Its a true fact.Anyway thanks for providing & sharing.
Thanks for the great tips on writing. I have been trying to grasp the social media marketing for some time and this helps alot.
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