Starting a writer's blog is like giving your words a cozy, virtual home where they can shine. It's not just about sharing your stories and insights; it's a space where you can grow as a writer, connect with fellow wordsmiths and get your creative juices flowing.
Plus, it's an excellent way to build a portfolio and showcase your writing skills to potential clients or publishers. So, if you've been contemplating starting a blog, don't hesitate—dive into the world of blogging. Your blog can be your canvas, and the possibilities are limitless.
Benefits of starting a writer’s blog
Starting a writer's blog offers a slew of benefits for both aspiring and established writers, including:
Showcasing your writing skills: A blog serves as a living showcase of your writing abilities. Through your blog posts, you can demonstrate your command of language, style and storytelling techniques, which can attract potential readers, clients or collaborators.
Personal and professional branding: Creating a blog allows you to establish your unique writing voice and style, contributing to your personal brand as a writer. Consistency in tone and content helps readers recognize and connect with your work.
Gaining more writing practice and experience: Regularly writing and publishing blog posts provides consistent practice that can enhance your writing skills over time. It's a platform to experiment with different genres, formats and themes.
Building a professional portfolio of work: A blog provides a centralized place to showcase your best work, making it easier to share and demonstrate your capabilities to potential clients, publishers or employers.
Engaging with readers: Interacting with readers through comments and feedback helps you understand their preferences and refine your writing. This engagement can foster community and encourage your growth as a writer.
Networking opportunities: A well-managed and up-to-date blog can attract other writers, readers and industry professionals who share your interests. This networking can lead to collaborations, guest writing opportunities and more.
How to start a writer’s blog in 6 steps
01. Choose the right blog niche
Selecting a focused niche is a crucial first step in starting a writer's blog. Your chosen niche will guide your content and help you attract a specific audience interested in your writing topics. The key to a successful writing blog is to choose a niche you're passionate about—one that aligns with your expertise and resonates with your target audience.
For Kylie Goldstein, blog growth manager at Wix, there’s no better way to choose a blog niche than focusing on what you know. She believes, “Not only does the writing come more naturally but it makes it easier to tap into communities and networking opportunities if it’s a niche you know well.“ If you understand what it is to be a freelancer, tap into that expertise first.
Your chosen niche will shape your content and help you establish a unique voice in the writing community. Consider these five possible writing-related blog niches:
Creative writing techniques: Dive deep into the art of storytelling, exploring techniques, tips and exercises to enhance your readers' creative writing skills. Share insights on character development, plot structure, dialogue and world-building.
Freelance writing tips: Cater to aspiring freelance writers by providing guidance on finding clients, setting rates, managing projects and navigating the freelance writing landscape. Share practical tips for successful freelancing both how to get started and how to manage your business.
Book reviews and literary analysis: Create a blog dedicated to book reviews and literary analysis. Delve into the themes, symbolism and character arcs of popular books, offering readers a thoughtful perspective on literature.
Productivity and self-care for writers: Focus on the writer's journey, offering strategies to boost productivity, overcome writer's block and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Discuss self-care practices tailored to writers.
Publishing tips and strategies: Guide aspiring authors through the intricacies of publishing, both traditional and self-publishing. Cover topics such as querying agents, book marketing, building an author platform and navigating the publishing industry.
02. Select the right blogging platform
Choosing the right blog maker and platform is essential for setting up your writer's blog effectively. Opting for a platform that includes hosting and robust security measures ensures a hassle-free experience regardless of the type of blog you’re starting.
When starting a writer's blog, it's wise to opt for a blogging platform that offers integrated hosting and 24/7 enterprise-grade security. This ensures that your content remains accessible and secure for both you and your readers. Selecting the right platform can simplify the technical aspects of managing a blog. An all-in-one solution like Wix makes it easier for you to focus on what you know best: writing.
The overall design of your writer's blog is crucial for user experience. Choose a blog template or theme that resonates with your brand and niche. With a website builder like Wix, you can personalize your blog's design, layout and color scheme to create a cohesive and visually pleasing look.
In the same vein, branding plays a pivotal role in establishing your writer's blog as a recognizable and reputable entity. A well-defined brand identity sets the tone for your content and creates a memorable impression on your readers. Consistent branding helps build trust and encourages readers to engage with your blog.
A logo is a particularly powerful visual representation of your writer's blog. Utilizing a logo maker can help you design a professional and eye-catching logo that aligns with your blog's themes and values. Draw inspiration from this selection of blog logos.
Learn more about how to make a website and explore some of the best website builders for writers.
03. Find the best name for your writer's blog
Choosing the right blog name and domain is critical in establishing a strong online presence and fostering trust among your readers.
Your blog's name is often the first impression readers have of your content. It sets the tone for your blog's identity and communicates its focus. A well-chosen name not only captures your brand's essence and your specific writing skills but also builds awareness and credibility over time.
If you're struggling to choose a name for your writer's blog, consider using a blog name generator. Tools like this can provide creative suggestions based on keywords related to writing, your niche or your style.
Your domain name (web address) is a crucial part of your blog's identity. When choosing a domain name there are a number of best practices to keep in mind:
Ensure your domain name aligns with your blog's theme and writing focus. It should give readers an idea of what to expect from your content.
Keep your domain name simple, memorable and easy to spell. Avoid using complex words or overly long phrases.
If possible, incorporate your blog's name into the domain to reinforce branding consistency.
Consider including relevant keywords in your domain name to improve search engine visibility.
Numbers and hyphens can be confusing when verbally shared and may lead to misinterpretation.
After brainstorming a few potential domain names, check their availability.
Some examples of creative blog example names:
InkWordsmithHub.com
NarrativeCraftingInsights.com
PageTurnerPerspectives.com
QuillJourneyExpressions.com
04. Plan and write your blog content
Valuable and engaging content is at the heart of a successful writer's blog. Planning your blog content strategically, adhering to best practices and incorporating multimedia elements can enhance the reader experience and increase reader numbers.
You’ll want to start by developing a content calendar to organize and schedule your blog posts. Include a mix of evergreen content (timeless articles) and topical or trending pieces to keep your blog fresh and relevant.
Determine how often you'll publish new posts, whether it's weekly, biweekly or monthly. Consistency is key: readers are likely to stick around if they know you’ll be publishing regularly.
When it comes to choosing blog post topics make sure they align with your chosen niche and cater to your target audience's interests and needs. Identify common challenges or questions within your writing niche, and create posts that provide solutions or insights to these. What would you like to have known as a new writer? What topics are relevant in your specific writing field (e.g., the rise of AI and what that means for the writing profession, or changes in freelance rates)? Crafting content around current trends can position you as an authority.
Some potential article ideas for a writer's blog could be:
Mastering Dialogue: Techniques for Authentic Character Conversations
Crafting Unforgettable Opening Lines: Capturing Readers' Attention
Plot vs. Character-Driven Stories: Finding the Right Balance
Building Three-Dimensional Characters: Psychology and Motivations
The Art of Editing: Polishing Your Manuscript to Perfection
Incorporate multimedia into your blog posts including relevant images and videos to break up text, and make your posts visually appealing. You can also create infographics to present complex information in a visually digestible format. Some great ideas for videos to include are demonstrating writing techniques, conducting author interviews, or filming your book reviews.
When it comes to writing blog posts you’ll want to consider some of the following best practices:
Clear structure: Follow a logical structure with an engaging introduction, informative main content and a summary of main points.
Engaging titles: Craft attention-grabbing blog titles that convey the essence of your content and entice readers to click. Where possible, avoid click-bait titles.
Readable blog format: Use subheadings, bullet points and short paragraphs to improve readability and cater to online readers.
Word count: How long your blog post will be will depend very much on the topic, audience and distribution channel. If you’re planning to distribute it on social media you might want to keep it short and snappy.
Proofreading: Thoroughly edit and proofread your posts for grammar, spelling and coherence. Consider putting together a blog post checklist to make sure all parts of it are checked before publishing.
05. Promote your writer’s blog
Promoting your writer's blog is essential for reaching a wider audience and growing your readership. You’ll want to employ effective blog distribution strategies and use blogging tools to boost your blog's visibility and engagement across multiple platforms.
Search engine optimization (SEO): Optimize your blog posts for search engines to improve their visibility in search results. Use on-page optimization best practices as part of your blog SEO efforts, such as using relevant keywords in the article and adding meta descriptions and image alt text.
Social media promotion: Promote your blog posts on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Create engaging captions and use interactive content to attract a larger audience and engagement.
Email marketing: Build an email subscriber list and send regular newsletters featuring your latest blog posts. Email marketing is a direct way to connect with your readers and keep them engaged while promoting your blog.
Guest blogging: Contribute guest blogging posts to other reputable blogs in your niche. This can help you reach new audiences and establish yourself as an authority.
To understand better your writer's blog performance, you’ll want to make sure you’re tracking and analyzing your web analytics. Some important segments and metrics to look at when assessing the performance of your blog are:
Audience behavior and insights: Analytics tools provide valuable insights about your readers, including demographics, interests and behavior. Use this information to tailor your content to your audience's preferences.
Traffic sources: Understand where your blog traffic is coming from—whether it's organic search, social media, referrals or direct visits. Focus on strategies that bring the most traffic and engagement.
Most popular content: Analyze which of your blog posts are most popular within the blogosphere and why (e.g., because it generates the most traffic or the best audience behavior scores). This information can guide your future content creation.
Conversion tracking: If you have specific goals (e.g., newsletter sign-ups or eBook downloads), track how well your blog is converting visitors into subscribers or customers.
06. Monetize your writer's blog
Monetizing your blog is a career-changing step that can turn your passion for writing into a source of income. Popular strategies to make money blogging include:
Affiliate marketing: This monetization method involves promoting products or services through affiliate links. When readers make a purchase through your unique affiliate link, you earn a commission. Join affiliate programs relevant to your niche and incorporate affiliate links organically within your blog posts.
Display ads: Displaying ads on your blog can provide a steady income stream. Google AdSense is a popular choice that displays relevant ads based on your content and audience. You then earn money when readers click on these ads.
Subscription content and courses: Offer premium subscription content or online courses to monetize your expertise. Subscribers pay a recurring fee for exclusive articles, resources or courses, creating a steady income source and offering added value to your dedicated audience. Provide monthly access to writing guides, templates and author interviews—or create a comprehensive writing course to help aspiring writers improve their skills.
Tips to successfully monetize your writer's blog and start a business:
Ensure that any monetization methods align with your blog's niche and audience interests.
Disclose affiliate links and sponsored content to maintain trust with your readers.
Focus on providing valuable content; monetization should enhance, not detract from, the reader experience.
Consider combining multiple monetization methods to create a diversified income stream.
3 writer’s blog examples
Explore these writer's blog examples, each offering a unique perspective and range of content.
01. Wordsmatter Blog
For writers, by writers, this blog offers a diverse array of topics. Whether you're interested in slang words from around the world or crafting compelling copy for Google Ads, Wordsmatter has something for writers across various disciplines and industries.
02. The Poetry Pot
Dive into a personal writer's world with The Poetry Pot. This blog serves up a mix of creative content, from poetry and reviews to engaging stories that captivate readers.
Author Ella White uses her blog not only as a platform to showcase her work and trilogy but also as a bridge to connect with her audience. Discover her books, engage with her literary journey and gain insights into her creative process on her writer's website.
Other types of blogs to start
How to start a writer’s blog FAQ
How often should I publish on my blog?
Consistency matters. Set a manageable publishing schedule, whether it's weekly, biweekly or monthly. Focus on quality content over frequency.