The Keys to Writing in a Modern Way

In today's media crazed world, where new information is demanded every second and newspapers are becoming obsolete, blogs are now a key component in the journalism industry. They are the new source of how people receive their daily news nowadays.

Blogs have only been around for a little more than a decade now, but since they are free to create and use, most writers have turned to them to promote their work to the world. Websites including blogspot.com and wordpress.com offer free services for you to run one on your own.

One UB faculty member, who runs a successful classical music blog called Sonic Labyrinth, is Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, Director of the Music Program and a music writer for the Stamford Advocate, Greenwich Times and Hartford Courant. Since creating it in June 2010, he said that having a blog is important in order to showcase one's own talent.

"Everyone should be writing one [a blog] and be writing it as something professional that they view as something that could potentially advance their abilities to write on a subject for which they have expertise [in]," Dr. Johnson said. "If you are a good writer and are really writing well on a subject somebody will find it because that is the nature of the internet."

 Sharon Housley, a writer for masternewmedia.org, recommends several important guidelines in order to maintain a successful blog. She says that staying on topic is a key component while writing and that the readers are only interested in the main theme of your story. Another is having a schedule and sticking to it meaning that is essential to keep writing and updating your blog weekly in order for your audience to constantly read your work. Housley also mentions that having a RSS [Really Simple Syndication] feed will boost readership.

"[Running a blog] helps [you] express spontaneity and random ideas you are thinking as the days go by and allows you to show off your work," senior and finance major John Benitez said. "[My] day to day photography gives me a lot of versatility and the ability to focus on the little things I want to add [to my blog]."

Benitez runs JBenzPhoto.com, a photograph blog/website that he uses to document any pictures he takes throughout his travels and daily life. His blog was created this past June and he said that an average of 150-200 people observe his site every day. 

"Having one [a blog] improves one's writing and you might have such a peculiar gift for that area [of expertise] and that angle [may] help you create your own vacancy in the world's most perfect job [for you]," Dr. Johnson said.