How to Blog Here

(The following language is adapted from Professor Schacht’s original “How to Blog Here” post): A post can be a few words plus a link or embedded video, or it can be a couple of paragraphs. It should be of interest to the group as a whole. It can contain some personal reflection or indicate a particular point of view, but it shouldn’t read like an entry in a personal diary. It should not serve as a space to vent.

Consider your audience: the whole community of folks at SUNY Geneseo (and perhaps beyond) who read and think about Morrison’s work. Say something or point to something (e.g., an interview or article) that you think the community will find interesting, and explain how/why. Don’t worry whether what you have to say is “important” enough. Just be sure to keep it relevant to the community’s common interest.

Blogging has become its own genre of writing. Typical blog style is informal, and that’s what’s in order here. If you write the way you would for an essay assignment, you’re likely to sound stiff.

But informality is no excuse for sloppiness: be thoughtful about spelling, usage, punctuation, and the rhythm of your prose.

And take the time to follow the most important blogging conventions that have emerged in the genre. For example, link by selecting text and entering the URL with the link button in the edit box’s toolbar (rather than dropping a long, ugly URL right into the middle of a paragraph). Whenever possible, embed videos and images rather than simply linking to them. Assign a category and some labels to your post. For long(er) posts, use the “Insert Read More Tag” tool so that visitors can see lots of folks’ posts up on the front page rather than simply one long post.

You need not use a formal “works cited,” and you need not use parenthetical citation or provide page numbers either; these things are generally not part of blogging convention. Do, however, be mindful about the need to give credit through good attribution (both of direct quotation and paraphrase) and linking practice even and especially when citing social media. Here’s an example: After coining the term “misogynoir,” Moya Bailey warned on Tumblr against the all-too-common practice of appropriating and redefining a word that describes how “anti-Blackness and misogyny combine to malign Black women in our world.”